| Intro | Guinea-Bissauan politician |
| Was |
Politician Author Writer |
| From | Guinea-Bissau |
| Type |
Literature Politics |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 31 December 1956 |
| Death |
5 June 2009 (aged 52 years) |
Helder Proença (died June 5, 2009) was a Guinea-Bissauan politician who served as Minister of Defense of Guinea-Bissau during the administration of President João Bernardo Vieira.
On June 5, 2009, Proença, who was a member of the National People’s Assembly at the time, was shot and killed by government security forces on a road connecting the northern town of Bula and with Bissau, the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. Baciro Dabó, a politician and presidential candidate in the June 2009 presidential election, was also killed by government soldiers on the same day. A third politician, former Prime Minister Faustino Imbali, was also arrested. Proença’s driver and bodyguard were also killed in the attack.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry of Guinea-Bissau accused Proença, Dabó and Embali of being part of the alleged coup plot.
Portugal’s state-run news agency, Lusa, reported that Proenca’s body was taken to the morgue at the Simao Mendes Hospital in Bissau following his killing.