Africa-Press – Angola. The national taxi drivers’ strike took place from July 28th to 30th in protest against rising diesel prices. The strike resulted in violent clashes, acts of vandalism, and looting in several areas of the capital and other provinces.
According to the latest official report, the incidents caused 30 deaths, 277 injuries and 1,515 arrests across the country.
“If the people acted that way, something is wrong.” This is how João Mabiala, a relative of one of the young men convicted of participating in the riots, alludes to the events of the beginning of the week in Luanda.
His brother, Geovani Mabiala, 17, was one of four defendants present this Friday at the Luanda Court, accused of involvement in the violent protests that marked Luanda during the taxi drivers’ strike between Monday and Wednesday.
The young man was sentenced to six months of community service, along with Gelson João, 18, while the other two defendants, Adão Manuel, 22, and Domingos Kiaco, 20, received sentences of up to a year and a half in prison.
Geovani said he was at home in the Malueca neighborhood when he heard noise in the street.
“The children, who were playing in the yard, ran into the house,” he reported. The fenced-in yard was invaded by a group of people fleeing the police, and officers, upon entering the premises, detained him, even after he explained that he lived there.
João Mabiala confirmed that his brother was taken away without putting up any resistance and was only seen again in court.
For João, the riots stemmed from collective frustration. “The strike was called by taxi drivers, but the people, already fed up, also took advantage (…) if the people acted that way, it’s because something is wrong,” he noted.
“If the people invaded to steal rice, it’s a disgrace, as if to say: we’re dying of hunger,” he lamented, asking for justice to be done.
Gelson João, also sentenced to community service, said that on the day of his arrest, he was working in a sofa factory in Cazenga. When a group stormed the premises, he tried to escape. “As I was running away, barefoot, I stepped on something shard, and the police grabbed me, beat me, and took me to the police station,” said the young man, who still had injuries and walked on tiptoe in the courtroom.
The case of Adão Manuel, a 22-year-old health student, resulted in a one-year prison sentence. He said he was surprised by gunfire in the street and took refuge in a backyard. That’s where he was arrested. He displayed an inflamed arm, bound with an improvised rubber band. “I was attacked with a baton on the elbow,” he reported.
Lucau Manuel, Adam’s father, watched the trial with sadness.
“It hurts, because I don’t know him on these paths,” he lamented, saying he had been informed by neighbors of his son’s arrest and that he was hoping for his acquittal.
The young men were charged with participating in a riot. According to the records, three were caught red-handed vandalizing and looting establishments in Cazenga on Tuesday. The fourth was arrested on the first day of the taxi drivers’ strike, which escalated into violence, looting, and clashes with police in Luanda and other provinces.
The Angolan Bar Association has now set up a special team to provide free legal support to detainees.
“We want to give the defendants a little comfort and ensure an adequate defense, in accordance with the law,” lawyer Picasso Andrade, coordinator of the team, explained to Lusa.
According to the lawyer, sentences under summary proceedings range from three days to three years, but many defendants have been sentenced to terms of up to a year and a half and many cases have been subject to appeal.
“We found many inconsistencies,” he said. “There are fair acquittals. We are here to defend the fundamental rights, freedom, and guarantees of the defendants.”
“Today we have a list of 25 lawyers, we had a more or less positive atmosphere, quite the opposite of the previous two days,” summarized Picasso Andrade.
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