Minister of the Interior Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos Nando said on Monday that there are no political prisoners in Angola, state news agency Angop reported.
He added: “Fortunately, Angola is the only country at war that has no political prisoners. At present there are no journalists that have been detained while on duty. We would like to challenge anyone who feels that we are an easy target: let them say which journalist or politician is currently in detention in Angola.”
But Alex Vines of the London-based human rights organisation Human Rights Watch said that while he knew of no journalists or opposition politicians currently imprisoned in Angola, there were many documented cases of threats, intimidation and court cases resulting in large fines involving those targeted by the authorities.
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