Elements of the United and Revolutionary Youth of Angola (JURA), the Youth for Social Renewal and the MEA were repressed on 19 February, when they intended to demonstrate in front of parliament against the inauguration of the new president of the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
In a joint press conference this Thursday in Luanda, the young people condemned the "brutality" to which "they were subjected by the police", which repressed "violently the defenceless youth".
"The police have always used and abused force on the old pretext of fulfilling superior orders, the police action must be equidistant by political connotations," said the Secretary General of JURA, Agostinho Kamwango.
According to the politician of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the largest opposition party, the police "acted with brutality" and caused "several injuries to many young people as a result of strong physical attacks.
"Youths were detained, tear gas bombs were dropped, and on the same day thirty-two youths were detained, released only early in the evening," he said.
The president of the MEA, Francisco Teixeira, also condemned the attacks this Thursday and expressed solidarity with the professionals at Palanca TV, stating that the police "must change their attitude.
"The police even assaulted him [the journalist] with the microphone in his hand. This shows, once again, at what level we're getting to, so we have to start gaining some maturity and intensify the pressure on the national police to change the way they act," he said.
The police said last Friday that the use of force in demonstrations "often results from citizens' disobedience," saying police forces can be called upon to "guarantee free assembly or ban violent demonstrations.
