A press release to which the Lusa agency had access this Monday refers that the general coordinator of PRA-JA Servir Angola, Abel Chivukuvuku, and his supporters tried to start a scheduled march, which would depart from ENDE – São Paulo in towards the Complexo de Eventos Magnólia, where the politician was going to give a lecture on municipalities, when the police appeared to stop the act.
"The march had not yet traveled 100 meters when a group of National Police agents, ostensibly armed, under the command of the Chief of Operations of the Municipality of Luanda, Superintendent Salvador, blocked the march", refers in the communiqué.
According to the note, the police launched tear gas grenades and injured 17 people, attacking members of the political project PRA-JA Servir Angola, passers-by and members of the National Assembly present at the site.
"Police action has no legal backing and constitutes a clear violation of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola (CRA)", underlines the document, noting that the tear gas grenades were launched towards Abel Chivukuvuku, "who narrowly escaped the violent, repressive and criminal action of the National Police agents".
According to the note, the general coordination of the political project PRA-JA Servir Angola sent an informative note, which contained all the details of the activity, to the Administrative Commission of Luanda and the Municipal Command of the National Police, on the 26th of January, duly registered by the respective bodies and did not receive any communication making the action unfeasible.
"For the occurrence that should embarrass the Government of Angola, the general coordination of the political project PRA-JA Servir Angola repudiates and vehemently condemns the action of the police, which clearly demonstrated that it is not a non-partisan and republican institution. On the contrary, it proved to be a police policy, aimed at violently repressing the opposition, as did the Gestapo of Nazi Germany, the STASI of East Germany, the TCHEKA of the Soviet Union and the PIDE-DGS of Salazar's dictatorial regime," the statement said.
The political project of the Angola Renaissance Party — Together for Angola — Serving Angola (PRA-JA Servir Angola) is led by Abel Chivukuvuku, former leader of the largest opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Convergence Ampla de Salvação de Angola – Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE).
In 2019, the project for its legalization was launched, however it was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Angola, due to alleged irregularities in the process, a justification that is rejected by its members, considering that political reasons are behind the impediment.
Lusa tried to contact the police to react to the accusations, but received no response.
