Koqui Mukuta was reporting on a peaceful anti-governement demonstration when he was dragged into a police vehicle and taken away.
(MISA/IFEX) – On 25 May 2011, police arrested and seized working material from a journalist who was reporting on a peaceful demonstration in the capital, Luanda.
Koqui Mukuta, a journalist with the popular radio station Radio Despertar, was dragged into a vehicle and driven to a police station for allegedly reporting on an illegal gathering. He was then freed but police confiscated his recorder, notebook and badge.
“They pushed me and hit my head against their vehicle twice before taking me to the station,” said Mukuta.
On the same day, more than 20 other activists were also arrested for allegedly demonstrating illegally.
Radio Despertar is linked with the major Angolan opposition party UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).
In the last few months, groups of protesters, many of them youths, have been using social media to promote and carry out anti-government demonstrations and protest against poverty at Largo da Independência (Independence Square) and across Luanda.
