On 24 December 1999, the Luanda Tribunal sentenced journalist Gustavo Costa to one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a fine of 2,850 Kuanzas (US$ 508) and a sum of US$20,000 as compensation for “defaming the Chief of the Civil Office of the President, Jose Leitao”. Costa made two court appearances on 12 and […]
On 24 December 1999, the Luanda Tribunal sentenced journalist Gustavo Costa to one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a fine of 2,850 Kuanzas (US$ 508) and a sum of US$20,000 as compensation for “defaming the Chief of the Civil Office of the President, Jose Leitao”. Costa made two court appearances on 12 and 13 December in a trial closed to the public and the media.
Speaking to Jorge Silva in Luanda, the journalist complained that during the day-long sessions he was subject to pressure from the jury to reveal his sources and felt that “the jury was ostensibly partial and adopted authoritarian positions that favoured clearly the plaintiff.”
According to Costa, his lawyer had not been able to hold his arguments as the judge always refused to take his arguments. “It is clear that the sentence had a political orientation to protect the image of the president’s aide but they could not prove that the matter published was false. My lawyer produced the necessary evidence and could show that the facts were true: there is corruption among the president’s assistants,” Costa said.
Costa’s lawyer lodged an appeal against the judgement with the Supreme Court and expects the case will be reopened in the next few months.
Background Information
Costa, a correspondent for the Portuguese weekly “Expresso”, faced charges of defamation and injuria in connection with an article on corruption at the presidential palace published in April. A few days after Leitao filed the lawsuit against the journalist, his residence was searched by three police officers from the criminal investigation department, DNIC.
Costa then revealed that he had been barred from leaving the country for a media congress in Macau. Since then, he has not been able to leave the country and his movements inside the country were extensively controlled by DNIC.
In June, Costa expressed fear for his life and he denounced that Leitao and influential people close to the president’s office had exerted political and psychological pressure on him to reveal his sources. He revealed that on one occasion Leitao told him that he was afraid his enemies could take advantage of the situation to attack the journalist and put the blame on Leitao.
