Suspended Sentence for Angolan Journalist
Rafael Marques de Morais was handed a six-month sentence suspended for two years on May 28th, in a trial that started back in March (which, ironically, occurred only days after London awarded him for his investigative journalism and freedom of speech contributions). This means that at any time within the next two years, he can be sent to prison for 6 months. This fate came as a result of his book, which was published in 2011 in Portugal.
The book, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, provided a detailed account of corruption in the Angola diamond industry (the current vice chair of the Kimberley Process), and included torture and killings that were allegedly carried out by Angolan soldiers and security guards in the province of Lunda Norte, which is diamond-rich.
Marques de Morais faced trial at the hands of the people who he implicated in his book, with charges of 9 counts of libel and 15 counts of criminal defamation. And while it was believed that a settlement took place between the military generals and De Morais on May 21, that if he would agree not to republish his book, and publicly acknowledge that the generals may not have known about the torture and corruption, all charges would be dropped, the judge still proceeded with a suspended sentencing at the end of the trial.
De Morais says that he believes that the generals wanted to avoid the embarrassment that a trial would cause, and told The Guardian that he was lied to.
It is “a clear sign of abuse of the judiciary to intimidate those who dare to speak truth to power in Angola,” Amnesty International said.
