The demonstration was called by several civic and political associations against the laws on vandalism and national security, which activists consider to contain "ambiguous rules that limit freedoms" and attack the fundamental rights of citizens.
At the location set for the gathering, next to the Santa Ana cemetery, around two dozen protesters showed up and placed some posters on the ground while they waited for more activists to arrive, always under police surveillance. However, the attempted protest ended after half an hour with arrests and intimidation of the journalists who were covering the event.
Matulunga Kinanga, from Sociedade Civil Contestária, said that the objective of the civic platform of which his organisation is a member is to "defend rights", especially with regard to Law 18/24 (Law on Crimes of Vandalism of Public Property and Services) which, according to the young man, holds those responsible for civic activities accountable and aims to restrict freedom of expression.
"We decided to challenge this law and filed a precautionary measure with the court and the office of the President of the Republic with the aim of analyzing the social purpose of this law (...) which is extremely violent in terms of social and democratic values", criticized the activist.
When asked about the fact that there were few protesters at the gathering site, where a march to Largo 1.º de Maio, the central point of Luanda, was supposed to begin, Matulunga Kinanga stressed that "the demonstrations are all repressed" because people "fear police violence" which "can lead to deaths".
The police told the protesters that the protest was not authorized and after half an hour they ordered all the material to be removed, which contained slogans such as "Down with the oppressive laws", "Freedom for political prisoners" and "Let's fight for Angola", and began to arrest the young people.
The officers also tried to force the Lusa journalists who were covering the protest, and were duly identified, to get into the police van and hand over the photographic material, which only did not happen due to the intervention of a senior officer.
Paulino Aurélio, a journalist for the Juventude Avante channel and a contributor to Rádio Despertar, a media outlet linked to UNITA, who was also covering the news and was identified as such, was forced to get into the van with the activists.
In statements to Lusa, after being released, Paulino Aurélio said that he was subjected to an interrogation, having been asked about the party he voted for and with which he identified.
"After the interrogation they sent me away and told me not to come back because I could be arrested. I felt very intimidated", he told Lusa.
The Democratic Bloc reported in a statement the arrest of at least five activists, including the party's national youth secretary, Adilson Manuel.
The Democratic Bloc stressed in its statement that "the National Police continue to prevent access to the gathering site, in an act that constitutes yet another abuse of power and a serious attack on fundamental rights", which it vehemently repudiated, urging the authorities to release the detainees.
It has not yet been possible to confirm the number of arrests with the National Police.
