João Lourenço, who was speaking as leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), during a meeting of the central committee, a ruling party, said he hoped that the arrests of journalists duly accredited and in full exercise of their functions, "will not happen again".
The arrest of six journalists took place on Saturday, during an attempt at a demonstration called by civil society activists, which was joined by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and other political forces, with the objective of demanding better living conditions, more jobs and the holding of the first local elections.
The Angolan Journalists Union repudiated the arrest of three journalists from Rádio Essencial and the driver, released only two days later, a reporter and cameraman from TV Zimbo and a photographer from the French agency AFP.
According to SJA Secretary General Teixeira Cândido, in addition to the police assaulting TV Zimbo's cameraman, he forced the AFP photographer to delete the images, even after identifying himself as a journalist.
The demonstration was strongly repressed by the police, who enforced the ban on street gatherings of more than five people, embodied in the latest Presidential Decree that declared a state of public calamity due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The arrest of journalists has been criticized by several international organizations in defense of press freedom.
