MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Moazmbique's ruling party candidate Daniel Chapo was declared the winner of the country's presidential election Thursday amid claims of rigging by the opposition.

But as a lawyer for an opposition leader, in an election year, he felt it was his duty to speak out. “In a country as upside down as ours, truth and justice have their price,” he wrote, “and the biggest price is the death of the one who says it.

Mozambique's ruling party, Frelimo, has won the country's divisive, violence-marred election, extending its 49-year grip on power in the southern African nation, the election commission has announced.

Mozambique's ruling party Frelimo has retained power in this month's national election, extending its five-decade rule in the Southern African state as the opposition cried fraud. Frelimo's Daniel Chapo,

Mozambique’s ruling party Frelimo has retained power in this month’s national election, extending its five-decade rule in the Southern African State as the opposition cried fraud.

Daniel Chapo of the Frelimo party, which has governed the southern African nation for nearly 50 years, was declared the victor amid violence and widespread allegations of fraud.

Daniel Chapo, the candidate of Mozambique's ruling party Frelimo, won this month's presidential election, results from the country's electoral commission showed on Thursday. Chapo won roughly 70% of the national vote,

Mozambique's president warned Wednesday that calls for violent protests could be considered criminal acts as tensions grew ahead of the imminent release of election results. "Inciting the population to revolt,