Police in the dock over high-profile hit

Six members of Mozambique's elite police unit have gone on trial for the murder of a well-known election observer in October. The officers allegedly shot Anastancio Matavele, director of the Forum of NGOs for Gaza, in his vehicle in Xai-Xai city, Gaza Province. Matavele, who had conducted a training session for national election observers, died hours later in hospital. Two of the suspects were killed in a car accident shortly after the hit. Legalbrief reports that four police officers have already confessed to taking part in the murder plot. A report on the JacarandaFM site notes that Edson Silica, the driver on the day of the murder, has identified his former colleague Agapito Matavele as the ringleader. Matavele, who is not related to the victim, is still on the run. ‘I drove the car alongside the victim's car and the order to fire came from the back seat,’ Silica told the court. The case continues. Human Rights Watch said the apparent involvement of police in the killing of an election observer ‘is a chilling development that casts a dark shadow over the Mozambican elections’.

Full Jacaranda FM report