In Angola, due to covid-19, the correct use of a face mask is mandatory on public roads, in closed public access spaces, in public transport, street vending and in markets.
“Having learned that the offenders, often referred to as 'detainees', are taken to police stations to pay the fine from there, through their relatives”, the PGR clarifies, in a note signed by attorney Hélder Piita Grós, that, in the case of administrative transgressions, the police authorities must “draw up the report”, with the transgressor having 30 days to voluntarily pay the fine.
The PGR stresses that the failure to use a face mask or its incorrect use, as well as the violation of the sanitary fence, quarantine, home isolation and other situations provided for in the decrees regarding the situation of public calamity “do not constitute a crime or a contravention, but rather an administrative transgression punishable by a fine that cannot be converted into prison, and therefore the detention or referral of the offender to the skis or the court for summary judgment is not permissible ”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, several deaths involving the police have been associated with not wearing a mask, the most popular one, that of doctor Sílvio Dala, who was driving in the car alone and was taken to a police station, where he died in a manner still to be clarified.
The tragedy led to a march against police brutality that brought together hundreds of people in Luanda.
In late August, Amnesty International recorded at least seven deaths, mainly of young people, for not wearing a mask. The police never produced figures, nor did they assume a direct link between deaths and non-wearing of the mask.
In the note, the PGR stresses that administrative transgression is only punishable by a fine and asks the Interior Ministry bodies to inform police authorities about the procedures they must follow to establish public order in the event of transgression.
