killings were carried out by guards from a private security firm and by members of the Angolan Armed Forces. By mid-May, several dozen human rights, press freedom, and anti-corruption NGOs worldwide including Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, and Transparency International expressed grave concerns over irregularities in the proceedings and feared that Marques would not receive a fair trial. In a surprise development, the defamation charges against Marques were dropped by the Angolan military generals who had laid them. Under the guise of preventing terrorism, the draft regulation, which will be adopted by Presidential decree, contains a number of provisions that will considerably jeopardise the work of independent human rights organisations. A week later, Rafael Marques de Morais reached an out-of-court settlement with the group of generals, accepting that they did not have direct knowledge of the atrocities. Marques was released on bail, awaiting sentencing. He was sen- 16 So This is Democracy? 2015 tenced on May 28, given a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years for falsely linking military generals to the “blood diamond” trade. Also in May, correspondent of Rádio Despertar in Malanje, Marcelino Gimbi, was arrested while interviewing mototaxi drivers protesting over restrictions on moto-taxis in the city centre of Malanje. One person was killed in police action. In the same month, Rádio Despertar Comercial journalist Queiroz Anastácio Chiluvia reported receiving death threats in connection with an interview with the provincial secretary of Youth and Sports of Cuando Cubango, Antunes Huambo, who is also the head of the Christian Coalition Churches in Angola (ICCA). During the interview, Huambo said on air that at ICCA nobody was affiliated to any party, but everyone carried MPLA party membership cards. In July Gonçalves Vieira, a reporter with Radio Despertar, was arrested as he prepared to report on a protest in Luanda. TURNING ON HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS The turning point was the arrest and conviction of José Marcos Mavungo in March. Mavungo was arrested and summarily tried on sedition charges on 19 March 2015. The court found no evidence for the charge of sedition against him and ordered further investigations. On 27 May 2015, he was formally charged with ‘rebellion’ for organising a demonstration on human rights violations and bad governance in the Cabinda Province of Angola. He was convicted in September 2015 and sentenced to 6 years in prison. Mavungo is a former member of the human rights organisation Mpalabanda, banned by