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Angola Action Alert December 12, 2000 State functionaries defy court order allowing journalist to travel The Provincial and Supreme Court in Luanda on December 11 ordered the National Emigration Police to lift the travel restrictions imposed on journalists Rafael Marques, Aguiar dos Santos and António Freitas. However, less than a day after the court's ruling, the border police on December 12 refused to allow Marques to leave the country and instead confiscated his passport. Marques and Dos Santos had been convicted of defaming the president and sentenced to various jail terms and fines. Both had their sentences suspended, with Marques' sentence suspended for five years during which time he could not talk or write publicly or travel outside the country. Dos Santos, the director of the weekly paper, "Agora", initially had no travel restrictions placed on him as a result of his conviction and was authorised to travel in June this year, but then suddenly in November he was banned from travelling. Freitas, the editor of "Agora", was acquitted in the same trial as Marques and Dos Santos, but strangely also had travel restrictions imposed on him. The order by the Supreme Court to lift the travel restrictions against the three journalists came after several appeals and petitions to the court by Marques, who argued that the restrictions were a violation of Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, which are applied in Angola through Article 21 of the Constitution. Never-the-less, on November 12 Marques was stopped by emigration police at Luanda Airport from boarding a plane and was told that they had strict instructions not to allow him to leave the country. He passport was subsequently confiscated and he was told to go home. When contacted by MISA, Marques made it clear that he believed the orders had come from the Presidency. He considered himself as having been stripped of his citizenship. RECOMMENDED ACTION Write to the President: . Strongly protesting the unilateral action against Rafael Marques by the emigration police; . Pointing out that the actions are patently illegal since they go against a direct order of the court allowing Marques to travel; while also being in conflict with the freedom of movement provisions as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Angola is a signatory; . Calling on him to urgently intervene to ensure that Marques' passport is restored to him and that he is allowed to travel. Write to: Ends Information distributed by: Raashied Galant MISA Researcher & Information Officer Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Private Bag 13386 Windhoek,
Namibia MEDIA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA PROMOTING MEDIA DIVERSITY, PLURALISM, SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND INDEPENDENCE |
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Última actualização/Last update 17-12-2000 |