Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Angola

Officials prevent Rafael Marques from leaving Angola

    JOHANNESBURG

    Airport officials prevented prominent journalist, Rafael Marques, from leaving Angola despite a court order lifting travel restrictions on him, news reports said on Wednesday.
    Marques, who was convicted in March of defaming the president in a newspaper article, went to Luanda international airport Tuesday intending to fly to South Africa. His conviction had included a ban on foreign travel.

    Reports said that even though Marques produced a court order, dated 8 December saying he could travel abroad, Marques said airport officials refused to let him board the aircraft. He was to meet with journalists in Johannesburg before flying to Mozambique and Portugal. His lawyer, Luis Nascimento, said the prohibition was “arbitrary”. In a statement, Amnesty International described it as “official harassment.”

    Marques is the Angola representative of George Soros’ Open Society Institute. He won this year’s Percy Qoboza Award by the US National Association of Black Journalists for “overcoming tremendous obstacles”.

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join