LILLONGWE, Malawi

Mozambique Public Prosecutor’s Office charged opposition politician Venancio Mondlane with five crimes Tuesday in connection with post-election violence last year.

The crimes include incitement to collective disobedience and instigation of terrorism.

Mondlane said he has assembled a team of international lawyers and was going into the trial with a “clear conscience.”

“I have provided a great service to this nation. This is the first time in 30 years of democracy that we have managed to take the issue of uncovering and lifting the veil of fraud to the extreme. We have removed the mask of fraud and taken the extreme resistance against a dictatorial regime that maintains itself based on weapons, murders and kidnappings,“ he told reporters as he was mobbed by supporters.

Mozambique erupted into months of mass protests that were called by Mondlane, who rejected the results of the “massive fraud” in the Oct.9 presidential election.

The election saw the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) candidate Daniel Chapo sweeping the polls, becoming the country’s fifth president, while Mondlane, who was highly favored in the youth vote, came in a distant second.

Police from the country’s election monitoring organization, Platform Decide, allegedly shot and killed at least 400 demonstrators and injured 600 during the protests, which led to mass destruction of public facilities.

Earlier this month, legal proceedings were opened against 31 police officers for their alleged roles during the protests.

In April, Mozambique’s parliament unanimously approved a new law aimed at fostering national dialogue and political reconciliation, a development analysts described as a “significant step toward restoring stability” in the country.

The law, which includes constitutional reforms and changes to presidential powers, is part of a broader peace agreement signed March 5 between Chapo and opposition politicians, who included Mondlane.

Mondlane has accused Chapo of “going against” the contents of the agreement by prosecuting opponents.

But the government has always denied the claims, insisting it is “working within the law to restore sanity in the country.”​​​​​​​