Ilídio Manuel
Africa-Press – Angola. The recent arrest of three taxi association leaders by the SIC not only caught many observers by surprise, but is also giving rise to various interpretations in the public sphere.
It is surprising that the arrests occurred a week and a half after the riots that shook some provinces of the country, especially Luanda, culminating in the death of 30 people, hundreds of injuries and destruction of property, both public and private.
Interestingly, there is no knowledge of the direct or indirect involvement of the association’s leaders in acts of vandalism and contempt, since it was a stoppage of the taxi drivers’ activities, who did not go out on the streets during that period of time.
Likewise, there is no record of association leaders having called for or publicized acts of vandalism or disorder.
The detainees were charged with criminal association, incitement to violence, attacks on transport security and terrorism, based on strong evidence of their involvement in promoting acts of vandalism and destruction of public and private property and services, which occurred at the end of last month.
Days earlier, the same police institution had detained, under unclear circumstances, the vice-president of ANATA.
In some circles it is believed that these arrests could be framed within the scope of the new Law to Combat Vandalism, which in one of its controversial articles attributes criminal and civil liability to the organizers of the demonstrations, in addition to heavy prison sentences of up to 25 years.
The law in question, according to legal experts, violates elementary principles of law, based on the assumption that criminal liability is individual and non-transferable.
Hence, criminal responsibilities cannot or should not be attributed to third parties, other than to the perpetrators of their criminal actions.
The new law, critics say, is ultimately intended to inhibit or discourage protests against poor governance through intimidation.
It is believed, in these same circles, that the recent arrests of association members could serve as a test for future deprivations of liberty of opposition figures or civil society organizations that intend to organize protests or adopt critical stances towards JLo’s (mis)governance.
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