Five trials began in the Luanda Court on Wednesday, involving 22 defendants accused of participating in a riot. In the Belas Court, there are five other summary proceedings, with 15 people accused of robbery and vandalism. In the Dande jurisdiction, 61 people are expected.
Trials continue this Thursday in Luanda and Belas, in Kilamba Kiaxi (where six people, including a minor, are being tried), and in Icolo and Bengo, where nine people are charged with supermarket theft.
Among the cases is also a woman accused of public incitement to commit a crime, and nine more people are accused of robbery and vandalism.
The Ministry of the Interior also announced that, on Wednesday night, it began handing over to the families of a first group of 17 minors, out of a total of 83 detained "as a result of acts of rioting, destruction, looting, disturbance of public order, and vandalism of property" in Luanda province.
"The Ministry of the Interior reaffirms that the public security situation is stable and calls on the population to refrain from participating in or encouraging such actions and to cooperate with the authorities by reporting any suspicious activity," the institution emphasized.
The Angolan Bar Association called on Wednesday for the mobilization of its members to join the teams being formed to ensure compliance with legal guarantees in trials, given the "high number of citizens detained in recent days."
As part of the three-day strike declared by taxi drivers to protest fuel price hikes, there were episodes of violence, riots, and looting at warehouses and commercial establishments, as well as the destruction of public and private property.
The latest official tally indicates 22 deaths, 197 injuries, and 1,214 arrests. The official tally of material damage caused by the vandalism and looting has not yet been completed.
