Johannesburg, South Africa 21 May (ANA) - Authorities in Angola must uphold people’s rights to exercise their freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, Amnesty International said ahead of a planned protest against the imprisonment of seven activists. “In recent years, Angolan authorities have frequently used the police to supress public protests. Demonstrators are often arrested, imprisoned and even ‘disappeared’ for expressing themselves,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa. “Public demonstrations should not be used as an opportunity to punish views that are critical of the government.” Tomorrow’s protest in the capital, Luanda, will draw attention to the case of seven activists who were arrested   and imprisoned for participating in a previous protest calling for transparency in August’s presidential election. They were sentenced to 45 days in jail for “crimes of rebellion and criminal conspiracy”.

Information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that the seven were not given a fair trial. There are also reports that they were beaten and suffered other ill-treatment during their arrest. Amnesty International is calling for these allegations to be independently and effectively investigated.(ANA)

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