Angola police jailed for killings

Luanda, 23 March-(ANA)-A total of seven Angola police officers have been sentenced to 24 years in jail each for killing eight men - in a rare case of police brutality being punished.

After being told the men in the Sambizanga township were criminal suspects, the officers told them to lie down and then shot them in the back.

One of those shot managed to identify two of the plain clothes officers before dying of his injuries.

A US government report says police in Angola killed 23 people in 2009.

The weekly newspaper Novo Jornal said it was the first time that Angolan police had ever been convicted of such a serious crime, reports the AFP news agency.(ANA)

FA/ANA/23 March 2010-------