Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Bar Association (OAA) will file a criminal complaint and a civil liability action against the State to “repair the damages” caused by the judges who suspended a debate on the electoral legislative package.
At issue is the decision taken at the beginning of the month by the Court of Appeal of Luanda, which ordered the suspension of a national dialogue, promoted by the OAA, which intended to encourage “reflection on the electoral legislative package” that is being considered by the National Assembly.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling ruled in favor of a group of lawyers who filed an injunction against the OAA’s initiative, claiming that this entity does not have the authority to promote an event of this nature.
The OAA regretted at the time the “unprecedented” decision, which it classified as “an institutional aggression” and an “attack on fundamental freedoms”, and announced that it would participate in the reporting judge “for violation of the duties of impartiality, reasonableness and respect for the constitutional limits of jurisdiction”.
In a public note released, the OAA announced that it had filed an extraordinary appeal of constitutionality, appealing to the Constitutional Court to “restore legality”, and had taken disciplinary action against the judges involved in the process with the Superior Council of the Judiciary, as “there were serious indications of improper conduct”.
The OAA also considers that there are “elements susceptible to criminal classification”, having appealed to the Attorney General’s Office, and informed that it is finalizing a civil liability action against the State, “with a view to repairing the damages caused by acts carried out by magistrates in the exercise of their functions in a clear abuse of power and affront to the sacrosanct principle of legality”.
In the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had judge Lucas Júnior as rapporteur, the judges argued that the Statute of the Order does not include any attributions related to this event, therefore an activity of this nature “is illegal”, allowing the use of “public force” to apply the sentence.
The OAA said this was an attempt to silence its mission to “weaken democracy”, stressing that the suspended event “did not intend to legislate or usurp powers” and that critical thinking “is not a subversive act”.
Participants in the debate on the electoral package included former OAA president Luís Paulo Monteiro, coordinator of the Angolan Social Political Observatory (OPSA), Sérgio Calundungo, coordinator of the Angolan Electoral Observatory, Luis Jimbo, activists Luaty Beirão and Cesaltina Cutaia, journalists such as Reginaldo Silva and Teixeira Cândido (former president of the union), television commentators Bali Chionga and José Pakisi Mendonça and researchers Cesaltina Abreu and David Boio.
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