Rafael Marques de Morais faced nine defamation charges over his 2011 book, "Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola," in which he documented the torture and murder of villagers by private security forces in diamond mines.
This statement was originally published on misa.org on 22 May 2015.
Charges of defamation against journalist Marques de Morais were dropped on May 21 following an out-of-court settlement. The case stemmed from his 2011 book, “Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola,” in which he documented the torture and murder of villagers by private security forces that controlled the diamond mines. Marques de Morais originally faced nine charges of defamation on March 23 brought by at least seven military generals who owned the security firms, but the court added 15 more and postponed the trial until May 14. During the delay, parties involved had been negotiating to find “common ground,” he said in April.
According to news reports, Marques held a private meeting with the seven generals leading to Thursday’s deal. It has been confirmed that the British, Mozambican and Angolan directors and partners of ITM Mining, which feature in his book, also dropped charges.
During the proceedings yesterday, the author acknowledged that he had not contacted the generals before writing the book, but had reported the human rights abuses to the security companies. “I only learned in court that the companies never informed (the generals). I acknowledged the explanation they gave to me,” he said. The cases of torture and murder that were outlined in the book never came into question, he added.
