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Angola charges two journalists after publishing report on corruption

Angola

Angolan authorities should immediately drop charges against two journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said.

Rafael Marques de Morais, who runs the anti-corruption website Maka Angola, and Mariano Bras, of the weekly, O Crime, were charged with “crimen injuria,” which is similar to insult laws, the journalists told CPJ.

Morais said a prosecutor questioned him for three hours on December 27 before charging him over an article he wrote and published on Maka Angola in October.

The article alleged wrongdoing by Angola’s attorney general, João Maria de Sousa, in his purchase of state-owned land.

Bras, who republished the article in his paper, said he was questioned for three hours the following day, before being charged with the same crime.

Bras said he was questioned about the veracity of the report in his paper and for details about who owned the publication.

Morais said a court date has not been set for his case. If convicted, the journalists could be jailed for six months and fined.

“Angola’s prosecution service should drop all charges against Rafael Marques de Morais and Mariano Bras,” said CPJ’s Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal. “Angola should immediately stop persecuting these journalists simply for doing their jobs by reporting on allegations of official corruption.”

This is not the first time for Morais to be charged by Angolan authorities.

He was given a suspended six-month prison sentence last year for defaming Angolan generals in his book Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola that documented allegations of torture and murder in diamond fields, according to reports.

In 1999 he was imprisoned for 43 days without charge after referring to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos as a dictator, The Guardian reported.

Bras has been under investigation since June 2015 for alleged abuse of press freedom, defamation, and insult of public authorities, following a complaint by Angola’s army chief and the minister of interior, according to rights group, Front Line Defenders.

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