Author: Rui Verde, MakaAngola Legal Analyst

There is an enormous controversy among Angolan legal experts about the ways in which President José Eduardo dos Santos could intervene in the case of the 17 youths charged with plotting to overthrow the government and assassinate him. Those ruling out a presidential intervention cite the principle of the separation of powers: the president is head of the executive and is not, therefore, able to instruct the judiciary. This argument is not valid. The principle of the separation of powers has not been enshrined in the Angolan constitution; what exists is a separation of functions or duties. (Art. 105. No 3).  These have to operate inter-dependently — that is, through the constitutional mechanisms  of checks and balances.  This means that the president has to respect the constitution, but he can also, within the stated limits, intervene in the different power centers. He also has the duty of always defending the main […]

Sol Wachtler, a former chief judge in New York state once remarked that a Grand Jury could “indict a ham sandwich” if necessary – a reference to United States Grand Juries being too easily swayed by the wishes of prosecutors. When reading the indictment of Case No 125-A/15 referring to Domingos Cruz, Sedrick de Carvalho, Albano Bingobingo and sixteen other citizens (among them 33 year-old Luaty Beirão who, in the charges, has been reborn and is now apparently 19) one gets the impression that a sandwich has been accused of a crime. We will therefore have to make an effort to understand the indictment, considering that it is a legal document drafted by people who have presumably mastered the law and know what they are doing. Let us look at the indictment from a technical point of view, trying to see whether it is possible that it reaches a valid […]

The world has its eyes on Luaty Beirão. The world is beginning to understand that the Angolan regime behaves exactly like a dictatorship: it imprisons and tortures its opponents. Not satisfied with the legal farce of the cases of Luaty Beirão and other young people as well as that of José Mavungo and Rafael Marques, the regime has once again broken the law by creating yet another political prisoner. Domingos Magno, a journalist for the site Central 7311, was detained on 16 October on charges of having committed the crime of “false pretense.” It seems Domingos Magno’s crime was to have obtained a press pass to attend the delivery of the State of the Nation speech by Vice President Manuel Vicente, at the National Assembly. According to the authorities, Domingos is not a journalist and should not have been able to get such a pass. The oppressive security services in […]

In Angola thinking is a crime. This is what can be concluded from the 39 articles in the charges against the most famous political prisoners of our times, in Angola. The essence of the charges are based on a simple technicality. Since there were no facts or evidence to produce a “serious charge,” even if it had to do with intention to commit a crime, the publica prosecution came up with “preparatory acts.” The fact is that preparatory acts are usually not punishable. These acts are only punishable in very special cases such as an attempt on the life of the President of the Republic. In this way, the young people who were meeting to exchange ideas have been charged with making an attempt on the President’s life and with rebellion because there is no crime to speak of.  Therefore, the judicial authorities had to turn to exceptional accusations resting […]