Angolan police have detained a group of opposition activists ahead of landmark elections next month, accusing them of holding a rally without notifying authorities, a radio station reported on Tuesday.
Thirteen people campaigning for the main Unita opposition were detained on Monday in the Rangel area outside the capital, Luanda.
The move comes ahead of September 5 parliamentary elections, the country’s first since the end of a 27-year civil war, Catholic Radio Ecclesia said.
Those detained are part of the main faction of the Party for Development and Progress of Angola (Padepa), which is backing Unita and is seen as popular among youth in Luanda.
The activists remained in custody on Tuesday ahead of a court appearance, the radio reported.
Faction leader Carlos Leitao also told Radio Ecclesia that plainclothed ”individuals” with walkie-talkies had been watching his house since he announced his support for Unita last week.
”We intended to carry out door-to-door mobilisations of voters,” he said, adding that a ”minibus carrying activists was intercepted by police”.
Police told the radio they detained the activists for holding a rally without notifying authorities and for disrupting traffic.
”That was not a political detention,” said police spokesperson Carmo Neto. ”Even during the campaign, we must still respect the principles that the police have to be notified to hold rallies. Those activists had not.”
The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has been in power for 33 years. — Sapa-AFP