“Urging Mozambican authorities, particularly the Attorney General, to identify both the material and moral perpetrators of this outrageous crime and ensure justice, independence, and freedom for Mozambique’s lawyers,” reads a message from the president of ProPública, Agostinho Pereira de Miranda, directed at the private ceremony for the posthumous award presentation, taking place today in Maputo.
Elvino Dias, renowned in Mozambique as the “people’s lawyer” due to his social causes and support mainly for the underprivileged, was killed on the night of October 18, 2024, in an ambush. The police, after nine months, have provided no explanations or suspects for the crime, which has been associated with political motivations.
At the time, Dias was a legal advisor to presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane. The car he was driving in central Maputo was intercepted by two vehicles from which armed men emerged and fired dozens of shots, mortally wounding Elvino Dias, 45, and Paulo Guambe, a representative of the Podemos party, which supported the candidate in the October general elections. The central location is still marked with stones and occasionally flowers, commemorating the double homicide.
In May, the association ProPública — Law and Citizenship announced the awarding of the Nelson Mandela 2025 prize to Elvino Dias for his work in Mozambique, to be formalized today, International Nelson Mandela Day, by the Mozambique Bar Association (OAM).
“Elvino Dias was distinguished in the defense of Human Rights and lost his life fighting for the public good, justice, and freedom. The voice of Elvino Dias is silenced, but his example of courage, independence, and integrity will continue to inspire lawyers in Mozambique and around the world,” added the president of ProPública in the message addressed to today’s ceremony.
The head of the OAM, Carlos Martins, stated in May that the awarding of the prize to lawyer Elvino Dias recognizes his work as a “fighter” for democracy and the Rule of Law: “Because he fought in the courts. His stage was there, in the courts.”
“He leaves a heavy legacy. He taught us where to fight, but above all, he taught us three values: The value of truth, the value of law, and the value of justice. He leaves a great lesson for the entire class in itself, that it is necessary to fight for what each of us believes. And he believed, he carried his ideals to the end, and it cost him his life,” added Carlos Martins.
The head of the OAM argued at the time that the award by ProPública, a private association formed in 2020 with the goal of legal defense of public interest, should pressure for an explanation of what happened.
“The longer the investigation takes, the more doubts arise about the real motivations, the motive behind the assassination of our colleague,” he said.
On October 23, thousands of people gathered at Michafutene cemetery, on the outskirts of Maputo, shouting “justice” and “people’s lawyer,” during the emotional funeral farewell to Elvino Dias.
The double homicide shocked Mozambican society and marked the beginning of post-election protests led by Venâncio Mondlane, who left the country three days later, citing safety concerns, and returned to Maputo only in January. These street protests resulted in confrontations with the police, looting, destruction of public buildings and facilities, as well as businesses, causing nearly 400 deaths over about five months.
In the previous four editions of the Nelson Mandela prize, the honored lawyers included Francisco Teixeira da Mota (2021), Leonor Caldeira (2022), Maria Clotilde Almeida and Paula Penha Gonçalves ‘ex aequo’ (2023), and Garcia Pereira (2024).
