According to the lawyer for ANATA vice-president Rodrigo Luciano Catimba, who was detained a week ago in Benguela province and later transferred to Luanda, the arrest occurred without a warrant and there are currently no formal grounds to justify it.
"Here in Luanda, where the positive certificate confirming compliance with the arrest warrant should have been issued, unfortunately, there is none," said Jovete Domingos.
In statements to Lusa, the lawyer urged the Angolan Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) to "immediately restore his client's freedom."
"Because, under the law, there are only two prerequisites for detaining someone: when caught in the act or when armed with an arrest warrant. In his case, since he was not found committing any criminal act, we can understand that he should have been shown an arrest warrant, hence we believe his detention is illegal," he argued.
Rodrigo Luciano Catimba was arrested on July 31st in Benguela, three days after protests and riots broke out in several provinces following a taxi drivers' strike called by ANATA. Dozens of people died in the riots, and police made more than 1,500 arrests.
The Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) announced at the time that Catimba was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence, advocating crime, rebellion, and terrorism.
This Thursday, the lawyer said he was unaware of the crimes the ANA vice president is accused of, due to the lack of an indictment from the Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the facts against him and the legal nature of the crimes he is accused of.
Jovete Domingos said that "upon his arrest, as a precarious measure, he should have been questioned in a preliminary interrogation by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which did not happen."
"With an indictment, we would know the types of crimes committed. Since there isn't one, we stated that from a legal and formal standpoint, there is no document indicting him," he explained, noting that he was first questioned by the judge of guarantees on Monday, "who did not report the crimes he is accused of."
The defense attorney also considered that, during the questioning, the judge of guarantees "simply" relied on a video circulating on social media, dated July 25th, in which Rodrigo Luciano Catimba – detained at the SIC Luanda – called for a taxi strike.
"And they simply say that this video is what prompted the lawsuit, but in our opinion, we didn't find any words that could constitute criminal acts," he noted, noting that he has already filed a habeas corpus petition for his release.
On social media, taxi drivers and citizens express solidarity with Luciano Rodrigo Catimba and call for his release.
