“It is clear that we are working in a more difficult environment since [the deputy minister] came here,” a senior reporter said. “Get a copy of the paper and you will easily notice that we have many more stories on what the government and the ruling party are doing, no matter whether they are of public interest or not”, another reporter said on the condition of anonymity. De Carvalho has reportedly been calling the “Jornal de Angola” editor every day to ensure that no negative stories on the government are published. He has even made it clear that he does not want any letters from readers complaining about the dire state of roads in the nation’s capital, Luanda, to appear in the newspaper. · ALERT Date: July 19, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Celso Amaral Violation: Sentenced On July 19 2005, journalist Celso Amaral was sentenced to ten years in prison after being found guilty on several charges related to the mismanagement of state funds. Amaral had been accused of misusing approximately US$42,547 during the time he headed the governmentcontrolled branch of Radio National in the central province of Huila. A local police commander and several radio employees were called on to testify during the hearings. According to the judge presiding over the case, US$17,000 went missing under Amaral’s management. One of the charges against Amaral relates to the purchase, allegedly at highly inflated prices, of two vehicles for official use in neighbouring Namibia. According to reports in the weekly independent newspaper “Semanario Angolense”, Radio National has set up a special attorney team to appeal against Amaral’s sentence. A source from the radio also said a legal team will now closely follow the case. “That is strange, really strange, that the court dismissed all our justifications that these were unreal charges against Amaral.” The radio station believes the journalist is being victimised for political reasons, as he would often refuse to follow orders from the local governor. “He has never allowed local institutions to interfere on the radios,” the source said, adding that Amaral was an independent-minded person. Although National Radio is government-controlled, it has no obligation to act on orders from provincial governors or members of their staff. · ALERT Date: June 17, 2005 Persons/Institutions: National Radio Violation: Threatened On June 17 2005, Ramos da Cruz, governor of Angola’s northern Huila province, accused the provincial National Radio of attempting to create an “unstable environment” in the province by airing a story about a delay in the payment of salaries to public servants. Local workers of the Bridges National Company have reportedly been working without salary for two years. The radio story was based on interviews with the workers who expressed great anger about the situation. · ALERT Date: March 28, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Africano Neto, Isaac Neney Violation: Censored On March 28 2005, the government-controlled Angolan National Radio suspended a very popular current affairs and analysis program directed by journalists Africano Neto and Isaac Neney. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -35- Media Institute of Southern Africa