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Journalist to go on trial

    JOHANNESBURG

    An Angolan journalist, Andre Domigos Mussamo and Agostinho Mateus Augusto, the press secretary to Kuanza Norte's provincial governor, are to go on trial on 26 April on charges of revealing state secrets in an unpublished article, an official of the Angolan chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) confirmed to IRIN on Thursday.

    Mussamo, a correspondent of the independent bi-weekly 'Folha 8', was arrested in December last year after a member of the Angolan secret service searched his desk and found the draft article. The article was reportedly based on a letter leaked to him by Augusto from the provincial governor that allegedly contained "highly important information of a military nature".

    Mussamo was released on bail on 16 March, on condition that he does not leave Kuanza Norte or resume his journalistic activities. Mussamo's home telephone was cut off after his arrest and some of his family possessions confiscated, said the MISA official. She added that if found guilty, the pair could be jailed for up to eight years.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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