According to the secretary-general of the SJA, Teixeira Cândido, the promise was made by the commander-general of the National Police of Angola (PNA), Arnaldo Carlos, at the meeting that brought together the Minister of the Interior, his direct collaborators and associations of the journalistic class at the same table.
"The commander-general reiterated that there is no guidance to prevent the exercise of professional activity and the guarantees we have is that the general command of the PNA will work and reinforce its guidelines so that the work of journalists is respected when we have present in demonstrations and others", said the unionist at the end of the meeting.
The detention of journalists in the exercise of their activity, especially in public demonstrations, was the reason for the meeting, following the arrest of Borralho Ndomba, a correspondent for the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, while covering a student demonstration in Luanda.
At least four journalists have been detained, in Luanda alone, since last August, while covering demonstrations, according to Teixeira Cândido, noting that in the interior of the country, professionals also face "various constraints".
The secretary general of the SJA said that, at the meeting, the idea was also established that when there are situations of this nature (demonstrations) it is preferable for professionals to be "properly identified".
This is because, he added, the police say "that sometimes it is not easy to identify journalists in the midst of a crowd, which is why some have been detained."
"The idea was agreed here that the police will reiterate the information so that journalists are respected in the exercise of their function", he added.
"And on our part, the idea of finding a mechanism to allow easier identification for professionals was agreed, such as having to massively return to using vests as a badge, to facilitate the task of the police", he advanced.
Teixeira Cândido was also "expectant" with the fulfillment of the promises of the police authorities: "Of course, we are all here looking forward to future actions and we hope that there is no reason for us to meet again to address situations of this nature".
The Minister of the Interior, Eugénio Laborinho, who participated in the meeting, regretted the impediments to the exercise of journalistic activity by the police and defended "better identification of journalists", mainly in the coverage of public demonstrations, for "differential treatment".
