interview
Ivor Powell
Nine Angolan journalists from the Catholic Radio Ecclesia were detained by the security police this week as Angolan authorities clamped down on what they term “a fifth column fighting a rearguard action against the government”.
The nine were taken into custody after they rebroadcast a BBC interview with Unita rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. In the interview – his first in several months – Savimbi said he was willing to enter into peace negotiations with the MPLA government. He also denied that areas under his control were experiencing a humanitarian disaster of the magnitude claimed by the United Nations and the Angolan authorities.
The interview was granted to a BBC correspondent in Portugal after the Angolan MPLA government issued a warrant for Savimbi’s arrest as a war criminal. The MPLA is trying to whip up international support for the warrant and and intensification of UN sanctions against Unita.
The journalists – who include the director of Radio Ecclesia, Father Antonio Jaka, the station’s editor, Paolo Juliao, as well as announcer Laurinda Tavares – have been charged with “disseminating dangerous information”. They were released after several hours of interrogation and the confiscation of their tapes.
The clampdown on Radio Ecclesia comes in the midst of a growing stand-off between the Catholic church in Angola and the MPLA government of President Jos Eduardo dos Santos.
In recent months the Catholic Church has joined Protestant churches in protesting against the 30-year civil war. At the end of July the Catholic bishops’ synod issued a statement condemning both sides in the conflict.
The recent detentions follow action against other journalists earlier this year. Among those targeted were journalists from Radio Morena in Benuela province, as well as the correspondents of the Portuguese Expresso and the Voice of America.