CPJ condemns on-going persecution of journalist
**Updates IFEX alerts of 22 February and 13 January 2000, 17 December, 30, 25, 16, 3 and 2 November, 28, 22, 20, 19 and 18 October 1999** (CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is strongly condemning the prosecution of free-lance journalist Rafael Marques, whose trial date has been set for 9 March 2000. CPJ believes that the charges […]
Journalist continues to be detained despite expiry of release deadline
Journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo continues to be held in detention in the Angolan province of Cuanza Norte despite the expiry of a second legal release deadline. 3 March 2000 is Mussamo’s ninety-second day in detention. Mussamo’s detention has exceeded the legal deadline in terms of the Angolan Press Law, which allows only a fifteen-day detention […]
Journalist assaulted by superior, detained
MISA has received information about the detention of a journalist in the Namibe province of Angola, who was held for twelve days in January 2000. The information was only received now due to poor communications between Namibe and the capital, Luanda. On 31 December 1999, journalist Francisco Lopes, who is the chief editor of the […]
Detained journalist expresses fear his life, medical treatment denied, number of visits curtailed
**Updates IFEX alerts of 11 and 2 February and 19 January 2000** (MISA/IFEX) – Detained journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo, who has been in detention in Cuanza Norte province for eighty-four days, has expressed fear for his life, while there is also concern about his health. According to a letter from Mussamo that was smuggled out […]
Journalist barred from leaving the country
(MISA/IFEX) – Journalist Rafael Marques has been barred from travelling to Washington, D.C. (USA) to attend a conference. Marques told MISA that he had requested permission from a judge to travel to Washington but his request was verbally turned down. Several other journalists were also previously harassed by being barred from leaving the country. These […]
Journalists detained and interrogated, videotape confiscated
(MISA/IFEX) – On 18 February 2000, Angolan police briefly detained and interrogated two journalists from the Portuguese state television service for Africa, RTP-Africa. The two journalists, reporter Alves Fernandes and camera operator Jose Amorim, were covering preparations for a demonstration called by the Partido de Apoio Democratico e Progresso de Angola (PADPA) party, in protest […]
Journalist held in custody for over two months
**Updates IFEX alerts of 2 February and 19 January 2000** (RSF/IFEX) – In an 11 February 2000 letter to the governor of Kwanza North province, Manuel Pedro Pacavira, RSF protested the detention of Andre Domingos Mussamo, editor-in-chief of the local desk of Radio Nacional de Angola, and correspondent with the privately owned biweekly “Folha 8”. […]
Journalist still in detention after more than forty-five days
(MISA/IFEX) – Angolan journalist Rafael Marques has informed MISA that he and his lawyer, Joao Faria, were able to visit detained journalist Andre Domingos Mussamo. The journalist has been in jail in the Cuanza Norte provincial capital, N’Dalatando, for sixty-three days. Mussamo is reported to be in good spirits, though his health condition is sensitive […]
Politician issues death threat against journalist during parliamentary debate
On 19 January 2000, a member of the Angolan parliament and member of the ruling MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) party, Mendes de Carvalho, issued a death threat against journalist Rafael Marques during a parliamentary debate. Speaking during a parliamentary debate on freedom of the press and of expression in Angola, De […]
Journalist detained without charge
According to information received by MISA, Andre Domingos Mussamo, the chief editor of the Cuanza Norte provincial branch of the Angolan National Radio, has been in detention since 2 December 1999. Mussamo, who is also a correspondent for the independent bi-weekly “Folha 8”, is being held in the Cuanza Norte provincial capital, N’Dalatando. To date, […]
Journalist sentenced for defamation in trial held behind closed doors
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 […]
CPJ expresses deep concern over deteriorating press freedom situation
(CPJ/IFEX) – Ahead of the United Nations Security Council open briefing on Angola, scheduled to take place in New York on 18 January 2000, CPJ is once again expressing its deep concern over the deteriorating press freedom situation in Angola. Over the past year, His Excellency José Eduardo dos Santos’ government has been among Africa’s […]
Journalist’s case to be heard in Supreme Court
The Angolan Supreme Court is to decide whether the case against journalist Rafael Marques, who is accused of defaming the president, is to proceed. This followed an application by Marques’ lawyer during an appearance before the provincial court on 15 August 1999 to have the case against Marques dismissed. The Reuters news agency reports that […]
Newspapers censored
(MISA/IFEX) – On 10 December 1999, Angolan police forced two weekly independent newspapers to drop their cover stories, which criticised the government’s use of oil revenues to fund the civil war in Angola. The Reuters news agency reported that police called the editors of “Folha 8” and “Agora” on 10 December, ordering them to pull […]
Journalist placed under house arrest, trial to begin on 15 December
**Updates IFEX alerts of 25 November, 16 November, 3 November, 2 November, 28 October, 22 October, 20 October, 19 October and 18 October 1999** (CPJ/IFEX) – Rafael Marques, a freelance journalist and Angola representative of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, was released on bail on 25 November 1999, after spending forty days in […]
Journalist released
(RSF/IFEX) – Rafael Marques, a journalist with the private weeklies “Folha 8” and “Agora”, was released from prison on 25 November 1999. He had been held since 16 October for having stated in one of his articles that President José Eduardo Dos Santos was “responsible” for the current crisis in the country. Further to Marques’ […]