· ALERT Date: October 12, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media in Angola Violation: Threatened On October 12, 2005, the President of Angola’s National Assembly accused local independent media of instigating a new civil war in the country. Roberto de Almeida said independent newspapers and radio stations should be blamed for what he considered as instigation to the return of the war in Angola. Speaking to the government-controlled National Radio of Angola (NRA), De Almeida accused the media of irresponsibility and having a politic agenda focused on “bringing a new war among the Angolans.” He particularly focused on “Semanario Angolense”, the major weekly independent newspaper in the country. De Almeida was referring to an article the paper published on a group of army soldiers who were allegedly unhappy with the treatment they were receiving from the government. De Almeida holds the second highest position in the Angolan government structure and often assumes the role of Head of State. · ALERT Date: August 24, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Francisco Zua Violation: Threatened, censored (equipment confiscated) On August 24 2005, Angolan police threatened and censored a photojournalist with the independent weekly “Angolense”, allegedly for reporting in an area without prior authorisation. Photojournalist Francisco Zua was taking photographs in one of the more crowded streets of the capital, Luanda, when a policeman stopped him and said he had no authorisation to report on the area. According to the reporter, the police officer grabbed his camera and removed the memory card before releasing him. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Suzana Mendes, queried the police station commander about the incident and was instructed to take the camera to the police station to ensure that the memory card belonged to the camera in question. The police seized the equipment, however, and deleted the entire content of the memory card, Mendes told MISA-Angola. · ALERT Date: August 22, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Zeca Martins Violation: Censored Angola’s government-controlled National Radio has fired a respected sports analyst after he criticised the country’s Football Federation. On August 22 2005, Zeca Martins, a commentator for Radio Cinco, National Radio’s sports channel, received a letter indicating that he was, as of that day, no longer a member of the station staff for “breaking personal confidence.” Martins told MISA-Angola that he was fired for allegedly breaking the personal trust of the social communication (information) minister, an allegation that he denies. · ALERT UPDATE Date: July 20, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media in Angola Violation: Censored Three months after Deputy Minister of Information Miguel de Carvalho urged state-owned “Jornal de Angola” to give less space to the opposition, the country’s only daily has significantly increased its coverage of government and ruling party activities, journalists have told MISA-Angola. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -34- Media Institute of Southern Africa