The "peaceful and unarmed" vigil for the release of activist Gilson da Silva Moreira "Tanaice Neutro", which has been awaiting appeal for more than five months, after conviction in the first instance, was aborted by police personnel, who occupied the entire extension of the site. of the protest.
Around 18:00 local time on Thursday, more than two dozen demonstrators were heading to Largo da Sagrada Família, but the police cordon present there did not allow the presence of the demonstrators, under the pretext, according to the activists, that the Provincial Government of Luanda “did not give approval” for the vigil to take place.
The organizers sent a communication to the GPL, dated March 21, 2023, with a copy also sent to the Luanda Provincial Command of the National Police, where they express the intention to carry out the activity, as Lusa found, on the spot.
Prevented from carrying out the protests in the aforementioned square, the demonstrators decided to gather 500 meters from that space and right in front of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Rua Joaquim Kapango, shouting “down with dictatorship and freedom now”.
With candles lit and displaying posters with the activist's photograph saying "Tanaice Neutral Political Prisoner since 2022", almost half an hour later police officers appeared at the scene and dispersed the demonstrators.
"The police once again had their macabre attitudes, pretending that they did not receive the documentation or ignoring what is our will, we are here to once again exercise a citizenship right", said activist Matulunga César Kiala to Lusa.
According to Matulunga, one of the organizers of the vigil, the authorities were notified in advance about the activity, but they only called on Wednesday "giving a note that the idea was to boycott our activity".
The police, he stressed, "allege that the GPL did not endorse the said vigil, we explain that the law does not say that demonstrations or vigils are authorized, it simply lacks prior communication and that is how we did it", he maintained.
"Unfortunately, this partisan police that only knows how to comply with the tyrant's guidelines has made its own, the police we have is far from being a republican police", he lamented.
“We were not allowed to get into space because the police took the position of assuming that coercive position (…). We are here, Tanaice is a young man who has the right to his freedom, his freedom has been cut off for a year and almost six months and we cannot allow it ”, he shot.
“Tanaice Neutro”, considered a “political prisoner”, was sentenced, on October 12, 2022, to a suspended prison sentence of one year and three months for committing the crime of outraging the State, its symbols and organs.
The activist's trial sentence was read by the judge in the case, Daniel Ferreira, in the 1st section of the District Court of Luanda, who upheld the MP's accusation as having been partially proven.
According to the court, it was proved that the activist "Tanaice Neutro", 35 years old, committed the crime of outrage against the State, its symbols and organs for having called the President a "bandit and clown" and having attributed the same name to the staff of the national police, in the videos that the activist recorded and shared on social networks.
However, the court suspended the execution of the sentence imposed for a period of two years under the condition that the defendant recant to the entities injured in the process and in the same way within 15 days.
The Public Prosecutor's Office expressed its dissatisfaction with the judge's decision and filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal with a suspensive effect on the sentence, a situation which means that “Tanaice Neutro” remains in custody, awaiting a response to the appeal.
Lawyer Francisco Muteka regretted, last January, the maintenance of the preventive detention of Tanaice Neutro, who suffers from hemorrhoids and in “poor health”, believing in the extension of that period due to the number of cases under consideration in the Court of Appeal.
