COUNTRY REPORTS ANGOLA: RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT HINDERS MEDIA FREEDOM INTRODUCTION T HE scarce information coming out of Angola is a strong indicator of the current landscape, which is tainted by government censorship and repression. This suppression is reinforced through severe actions by state security forces, arbitrary detentions, a restrictive legal and policy framework and restrictions to the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.(1) By Dércio Tsandzana This was most apparent in the lead up to the elections with a crackdown on protests throughout the year, repression of political dissent, intimidation, arbitrary detentions as well verbal and physical attacks on the media.(2) In one significant incident, Ludmila Pinto, the wife of broadcaster and opposition politician Claudio Pinto, was brutally assaulted and threatened.(3) 29