Concern for newspaper editor

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said on Monday it was concerned about action taken an Angolan newspaper editor and publisher who was briefly detained a week ago. A MISA spokesman told IRIN that although William Tonet, the editor of the bi-weekly newspaper, ‘Folha 8’, had been released a week ago on bail equivalent to US $500 after a weekend behind bars, the government should live up to its pledges to respect press freedom in Angola. In an interview with Tonet after his release, MISA quoted him as saying officers of the Economic Crimes Unit had issued a warrant of arrest for him and his custom-clearing agents “to confirm and give details about the process of payment of fiscal obligations” involving a container imported by Tonet’s company, Mundovideo. It said Tonet had expressed fear for the future following his release. “Anything can happen,” it quoted him as saying. “They want me dead and if they fail to incriminate me the next target can be my life,” he said. Tonet reiterated that his detention was part of the political pressure facing him and other independent media. Tonet revealed that during the week of September 26, he had to appear for police questioning for five consecutive days to respond to 74 questions about his personal life and political affiliations. In a separate development, MISA said that on Monday 4 October, members of the Economic Crimes Unit visited the offices of another newspaper, ‘Agora’ with a warrant to examine its financial records. MISA also cited the case of four journalists suspended from the official Angolan news agency because they allegedly freelanced for other “independent” media. “MISA is appalled at the DNIC’s continued harassment of independent journalists in Angola, amid the recent statements and assurances by the Attorney General, Domingos Culolo, recognising the value and benefit of the Press. From the information received from journalists in Angola, it is clear that DNIC is waging a campaign of repression against independent journalists and specifically harassing them for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and media freedom,” the institute said in a statement. “These rights are enshrined in the Angolan Constitution, and MISA calls on the DNIC to immediately desist from harassing the independent media both physically and psychologically through threats of criminal charges, detentions and interrogations.”