Luanda – Senior Angolan judicial officials have “illegally” interrogated an Angolan politician and academic in Portugal about the activities of 15 young political prisoners recently arrested at his Luanda home and still in custody, an activist NGO alleged on Monday.
Maka Angola, an organisation dedicated to fighting for democracy and against corruption, said the officials from Angola’s Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) and Attorney General’s office met Alberto Neto on August 6 and 7 in Lisbon.
The Angolan officials questioned him because he owns the property in Luanda where 15 youths had been arrested on 20 June, accused of involvement in plotting a coup against President José Eduardo dos Santos, Maka Angola said. The youths have said they were merely attending a study group discussing non-violent protest.
Maka Angola added that deputy attorney general Luciano Chaca and SIC special agent Pedro João tried to persuade Neto to sign an affidavit that they had interrogated him in Luanda because they were doing so illegally in Lisbon.
Neto told Maka Angola in an interview that the officials had told him that Domingos da Cruz was the ringleader of the attempted coup and that the youths had already asked members of the Angolan Armed Forces to remain neutral while the coup was taking place.
“They also told me the youths had a list of leaders to replace the President of the Republic, one being [José] Kalupeteka [the leader of a religious sect that was recently massacred in Huambo and who is under arrest since April]. Luaty Beirão [the rapper] would be the new Attorney-General of the Republic”, Neto said, according to Maka Angola.
Neto said he asked the government officials if they believed this and they said they did. He told them that he knew some of the youths and that they were welcome in his house.
“I told them that the story about the coup is a farce.” I told them these kids are nobodies, and much less have military training. How could they possibly attempt a coup?”
Neto also said the officials had brought him the next day a statement to sign – “ and told me they could not give me a copy because the interrogation had taken place in a foreign country, and was, thereby, illegal. They wanted me to sign as if the interrogation had taken place in Luanda”, he revealed.
Neto told Maka Angola that the Language and Computer Studies Institute of Luanda was located in the annex of his home and that if he had been in Luanda he would have allowed to meetings of the youths to go ahead just the same.
“Who has the right to tell me who I can and cannot invite into my home? I am 72 years old, and I don’t need to answer that type of question. I am a free man.”
ANA