Angola

Journalist José Manuel Gimbi has gone into hiding after several armed men raided his home and threatened him with unspecified harm.

William Tonet was convicted of criminal libel despite the public prosecutor withdrawing the charges and demanding the acquittal of the journalist, a request that the judge ignored.

A police court in Luanda sentenced five organisers of the 3 September demonstration to three months in prison and fines and damages totalling US$1,400 for the crimes of disobedience, resistance, and “corporal offenses”.

Police beat and intimidated four journalists while they were covering a major anti-government demonstration in Luanda.

Angola has denied entry to at least 17 members of southern African NGOs seeking to participate in a civil-society forum ahead of the summit and has confiscated advocacy documents from Zimbabwean activists, according to news reports.

Police officers in the capital picked up Radio Ecclesia reporter Adão Tiago over a report about the fainting of some 20 students at a local school where he teaches English.

Nelson Sul Angola of “Angolense” and Ismael Samalata of “Folha 8” were assaulted by Faustino Muteka while interviewing him about an ongoing investigation.

William Tonet, editor and owner of the “Folha 8” weekly, appeared before a court on charges related to an article published in 2008.

Koqui Mukuta was reporting on a peaceful anti-governement demonstration when he was dragged into a police vehicle and taken away.

The proposed legislation would undercut both freedom of expression and information, and pose a severe threat to independent media, whistleblowers, and investigative journalism.

Armando Chicoca was released on bail of US$2,500 pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Police officers and clerks at the National Assembly arbitrarily denied reporters access to a public hearing of the chamber’s Ethics Committee, according to local journalists.

Human Rights Watch expressed concern at anonymous death threats against opposition politicians and human rights lawyers, arbitrary arrests of journalists and activists, and misuse of the state media for partisan political purposes.

Armando José Chicoca was sentenced over his coverage of a sexual harassment scandal that implicated Namibe province’s top judicial official.

According to Human Rights Watch, the new law falls short of Angola’s international legal obligations.

António Manuel Manuel Da Silva is the third journalist since September who has been attacked for criticising the government, CPJ said.