Words That Imprison: Caholo and the Crime of Public Incitement
Activist Osvaldo Caholo, detained for nearly ten months since his arrest on 19 July 2025, was sentenced on 27 April 2026 to two years and six months in prison for the crime of public incitement to commit an offence. Initially, the Public Prosecutor’s Office had also charged him with rebellion and public glorification of crime. Maka Angola examines the judgment. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, protected under Angola’s Constitution, are essential pillars of any democratic order. They cannot be treated as mere rhetorical ornaments to be activated or suspended by the State according to the political convenience of the moment. The conviction of Osvaldo Caholo, handed down on 27 April by the judges of the 5th Section of the Ordinary Criminal Chamber of the Luanda District Court, sentencing him to an unsuspended prison term of two years and six months for public incitement to commit an offence, falls […]
Read more