Journalists convicted

Angolan journalists Rafael Marques and Aguiar dos Santos, editor of an independent weekly newspaper, were convicted on Friday over charges of slandering President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in articles published last year. Marques was sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined the equivalent of US $16,000. Aguiar dos Santos was jailed for two months and fined US $6,000. However, both journalists were released on bail pending the outcome of appeals to the Supreme Court on their convictions. Antonio Freitas, a journalist with the independent weekly 'Agora' was acquitted on the charges. In a case closely monitored by Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and other rights groups, Marques, the Angolan representative of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, was arrested last October and later charged with defamation arising out of an article published by his newspaper, 'Folha 8'. In the article, he charged that President Dos Santos "was a dictator who was responsible for the destruction of the country and for the promotion of incompetence, embezzlement and corruption of political and social values". The three journalists went on trial at the beginning of last month. The judge barred the press and the general public from the proceedings. The defence lawyer, Luis Nascimento, walked out of the courtroom on 22 March in protest at the unfairness of the trial. He was subsequently disbarred by the judge for a period of six months, even though such a decision can only be taken by the Angolan Bar Association. The judge then appointed a court official to serve as Marques' lawyer. During his detention, Marques was denied access to a lawyer and to his family. He went on an eight-day hunger strike to protest his illegal detention. He was finally released on bail on 25 November under strict conditions, including that he does not leave the capital, Luanda, that he should have no contacts with journalists or make public statements.