He described the killings of his lawyer Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, an official of the opposition Podemos party who supported him, as politically motivated – a charge denied by the government.

Mondlane went into hiding before the results were released, saying his home was surrounded by officers and that he was tear-gassed at protests after the killings.

Demonstrations also broke out after the results were announced on Thursday last week.

At least 10 people are known to have been shot dead by security forces during the post-election protests, according to a report by the Medical Order, an independent medical association, while dozens suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds.

Police chief Bernardino Rafael denied Mondlane’s allegations and said his officers had been called to 58 protests, “of which 38 were violent, very violent.”

Internet watchdog NetBlocks said restrictions on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram began on Thursday, while there were mobile data outages shortly after election day on October 9.

In the last day, WhatsApp, for example, is down for hours – and while a connection can be made intermittently, making calls on the app was not possible for all day Friday.

The government has not commented on claims that it deliberately throttled internet access to hinder protesters’ ability to coordinate.

President-elect Chapo will take over from Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after serving the two-term limit.

Mozambique has been governed by a single party – Frelimo – which has ruled since independence from Portugal.

Official election results gave Chapo 71% of the vote. Mondlane was second with 20% and Ossufo Momade, of the former rebel group Renamo, was third with 6%.

But this result is contested at the Constitutional Court by Podemos.

International election observers also said the election was flawed, pointing to falsified numbers and other irregularities during the counting process.

The Constitutional Court has now ordered the electoral commission to hand over all records and records.

On Thursday, Podemos leader Albino Forquilha met with the police chief for talks, asking “institutions that administer justice” to “carry out work that honors the vote that the Mozambican people entrusted to political parties.”

Since Friday, relative calm has returned to the streets of the capital, Maputo, and other cities after days of demonstrations.

Some markets, shops and businesses that were forced to close have now reopened, but complain that they have very few customers.