(MISA/IFEX) – Journalist Isidoro Natalicio, based in the Kwanza-Norte provincial capital, Ndalatando, is to be evicted from his home on 20 June 2000 because he reports for the Voice of America, Angola’s Catholic radio station Radio Ecclesia, and the Portuguese news agency, LUSA. Natalicio is also the official correspondent for the state-owned daily “Jornal de […]
(MISA/IFEX) – Journalist Isidoro Natalicio, based in the Kwanza-Norte provincial capital, Ndalatando, is to be evicted from his home on 20 June 2000 because he reports for the Voice of America, Angola’s Catholic radio station Radio Ecclesia, and the Portuguese news agency, LUSA. Natalicio is also the official correspondent for the state-owned daily “Jornal de Angola”.
An eviction order brought by the Attorney General in Kwanza-Norte states in part: “The accused flagrantly violated clause III of the Contract … (by making) diverse use of the residence, by converting it into the office branch of Voice of America, LUSA and Radio Ecclesia…”
The order further states: “The accused also violated Clause III of the contract by working (in that house), journalism activity for profit, charging for his services, articles and news dispatches, money in kwanzas or US dollars from Voice of America, LUSA and Radio Ecclesia.”
As a correspondent for “Jornal de Angola”, it is not illegal for Natalicio to work as an independent stringer for other news outlets. MISA sources pointed out that Victor Silva, the former director of “Jornal de Angola”, used to be a correspondent for VOA while he was still director of the paper.
The eviction order is based purely on the claim that Natalicio converted his home into an office, but this fact has been denied by the journalist. The only equipment he uses to perform his work as a stringer is his telephone. He has no employees and he does not conduct a business in the sense that his home is used for consultations or meetings.
MISA sources report that the eviction order is linked to a campaign by the governor of the province, Manuel Pedro Cacadira, to harass and drive out independent journalists from the province. It was this campaign which also led to the prolonged detention and criminal proceedings against fellow journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo, who was eventually acquitted of the charges against him (see IFEX alerts of 8 and 3 March, 23, 11 and 2 February and 29 January 2000). Natalicio has also faced other forms of harassment in recent months. He has been banned from covering any official functions in the province, and has been forbidden from entering any property belonging to Governor Cacadira, including a pension (hotel) compound that also houses a discothèque and popular bar.
BACKGROUND:
The Angolan government is the largest owner of homes and properties in the country. Following independence in 1975, all land was nationalised. It was only in the 1990s that the government began selling off some homes and properties in the capital, Luanda, but this policy did not extend beyond the capital. The result is that most homes in the capital, and virtually all others in the rest of the country, are rented from the government through the Department of Housing, hence the eviction order emanating from the attorney general’s office.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Kwanza Norte attorney general:
Appeals To
The Provincial Attorney General in Kwanza Norte
c/o Sr Domingos Culolo
Attorney General of the Republic of Angola
Fax: +244 2 333 172
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
