Folha 8 Journalists Interrogated

The National Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DNIC) heard yesterday, June 12, four staff members of the weekly newspaper Folha 8, as part of its investigations into the publication of a satirical photo montage  on December 30, 2011. The montage showed the faces of president José Eduardo dos Santos, vice-president Fernando “Nandó” da Piedade Dias dos Santos, and Minister of State and Military Bureau Chief General Manuel “Kopelipa” Hélder Vieira Dias, each pasted onto bodies with notices tacked to their chests, identifying them as delinquents.

The police questioned journalist Antunes Zongo, photographers Teófilo de Oliveira and Garcia Mayomona, and designer Sedrick de Carvalho last Tuesday. Journalist António Setas, who had been summoned as well, missed the session. Editor-in-Chief Fernando Baxe, journalist António Neto and designer Francisco da Silva were questioned at the Department of Selective Crimes the day before. According to Baxe, Folha 8’s editor and owner, William Tonet, has already been charged for defamation and slander. On October 10, 2011, Mr. Tonet received a one-year suspended prison sentence, and a 10 million kwanzas ($105,000) fine for defamation, as a result of articles that he wrote on generals Kopelipa, António José Maria (head of military intelligence), Hélder Fernando Pitta Gróz (attorney general of the Angolan Armed Forces) and Francisco Pereira Furtado (former General Chief of Staff). The journalist appealed the sentence. A spontaneous public campaign raised sufficient funds to cover his fine, in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling on his appeal.

On March 12, three months before DNIC served the summons to the editorial staff, agents of this investigation unit raided Folha 8’s office, and confiscated all of its   computers, accessories and electronic equipments, which have not been returned to date. The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) condemned the act as “a politicized investigation.” The CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita said, at the time, that “the seizure of Folha 8‘s computers is a crude act of censorship meant to silence one of the few remaining independent news outlets in Angola.” He further said that “satire is not an outrage against the state — it’s an important part of robust debate in a free society.”