Lisa Rimli

Lawyer Faces Up to 5 Years in Jail for Inviting Congolese Journalists

30 de October de 2015 Lisa Rimli

Human rights lawyer Arão Bula Tempo has been formally charged with the crimes of attempted “collaboration with foreigners to constrain the Angolan state” and rebellion. He faces a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for the first indictment, and 12 years for rebellion. The court informed Tempo, and other defendant Manuel Biongo of the charges on October 22. Arão Tempo, who is the chair of the Angolan Bar Association in Cabinda, was given a conditional release in May after two months in jail. He had been arrested and jailed on March 14 at the border town of Massabi, along with his client Manuel Biongo, a businessman who has also been charged with attempted collaboration with foreigners. The public prosecutor António Nito accused them of inviting foreign journalists from the Republic of Congo to cover a protest against human rights violations and poor governance in the exclave. The protest was going […]

Mavungo Convicted to Six Years in Jail for a Protest Never Held

15 de September de 2015 Lisa Rimli

Yesterday, September 14, a judge of the provincial court of Cabinda sentenced José Marcos Mavungo, a 57 year-old human rights activist, to six years of imprisonment on the charge of rebellion. His legal counsels will appeal to the Supreme Court. Mavungo has already spent six months in jail, and will serve 5.5 more years in jail. The peaceful protest he attempted to organize on March 14 never took place, as it had been prohibited by the authorities. Nevertheless, police and security forces arrested him as he stepped out of a Catholic religious service early in the morning on the same day of the planned protest. The authorities charged him with the crime of rebellion. Mavungo’s sentencing was a mockery of justice. It did not meet basic due process guarantees and formal trial standards required by Angolan law. The judge Jeremias Sofrera ignored the blatant lack of evidence exposed during the […]

Mavungo: Candidate for 12 Years a Prisoner

1 de September de 2015 Lisa Rimli

On August 28, prosecutor António Nito, asked the court in the Angolan province of Cabinda to convict the human rights activist José Marcos Mavungo to 12 years of imprisonment on the charge of inciting rebellion – the maximum penalty allowed by law for this crime. The sentencing is scheduled for September 16. Mavungo was arrested without a warrant on March 14 when he was leaving morning mass. The protest against bad governance and human rights violations in Cabinda he had organized was banned by the government and did not take place. During the three days of hearings, no evidence was presented that Mavungo committed any crime. The trial revealed in more detail how the military intelligence fabricated his case and provided the central script for the proceedings. An intelligence file, referred to in Mavungo’s indictment, claims that intelligence officials found explosives and fliers in the streets on the eve of […]

Cabinda Activist Set to Stand Trial on Bogus Charges of Rebellion

24 de August de 2015 Lisa Rimli

José Marcos Mavungo was arrested without a warrant on March 14 as he left morning mass in oil-rich Cabinda, the capital city of the Angolan province with the same name. The 57-year-old human rights activist remains jailed five months later. His trial on the charge of rebellion is scheduled to begin on August 25. Due to his cardiac problems, his imprisonment is a serious threat to his life. The protest Mavungo organized for the same day against bad governance and human rights violations was banned by the governor and did not take place. Arão Bula Tempo, a human rights lawyer, was arrested on the same day as Mavungo. He stands accused of “collaboration with foreigners to constrain the Angolan state” apparently in connection with the planned protest. He still hasn’t been formally charged, but is prohibited from leaving the province to receive medical treatment or to speak at conferences. Since […]