In a press conference held in Luanda where activists present shouted in unison "freedom now", the executive director of the Observatory for Social Cohesion and Justice (OCSJ), lawyer Zola Bâmbi, condemned the "illegal arrest" of the activists, promising a action against the State.
"The action against the State for denial of justice is legitimate, because rights were seriously violated, with trickery and a lack of responses to lawyers' requests", said Zola Bâmbi.
Gilson Moreira da Silva "Tanaice Neutro", Adolfo Campos, Hermenegildo André "Gildo das Ruas" and Abraão Pensador are the four activists arrested since September 2023, after being convicted of disobedience and resistance, following a demonstration in support of motorcycle taxi drivers.
The current situation of the activists was presented at a press conference, an initiative of Friends of Angola, the Association of Women for Civil and Political Rights, the Mudei Movement, Kandera and the OCSJ.
According to Zola Bâmbi, the activists, in a state of health that requires care, "desperate and the target of threats and attacks" in prison, were subjected to an "unfair trial and illegally arrested due to political will".
"When freedom is deprived by political will, the purpose of this is to limit the space of civil society. This prison aims to silence protesting voices, your prison can be considered as a private prison", he said.
And he denounced what he called the "tricks" recorded during the arrest and trial, saying that they were subjected to an "unprecedented and visibly ordered" summary trial in the ninth section of the Common Crimes Room of the Luanda District Court.
"There was no trial, there was judicial lynching and theater to legitimize the arrest, because summary judgment takes place due to a flagrant crime, which was not the case. Even in court, no evidence was presented that they attacked or disobeyed the agents", he stressed.
"Justice was not served and they were just tried and convicted as part of a scheme", he highlighted.
Teresa Cawanga, with her one-month-old baby on her lap, lamented, at the time, the arrest and the state of health of her husband, who did not see their fifth child born, considering that the family is experiencing immense difficulties in supporting itself, due to the absence of the father.
Teresa, who fears for the life of her husband, who is ill after a hunger strike, also questioned the sensitivity of the President, João Lourenço, asking for his intervention to free the activists "unjustly imprisoned".
The person who also requested João Lourenço's intervention was José Gonga, father of other activists, having questioned freedoms in the country in almost 50 years of independence.
"Freedom now", shouted José Gonga, accompanied in chorus by activists who filled the auditorium of Livraria Irmãs Paulinas, in Luanda.
