About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Journalist sentenced to 10 years in prison

(MISA/IFEX) - On 19 July 2005, journalist Celso Amaral was sentenced to ten years in prison after being found guilty on several charges related to the mismanagement of state funds. Amaral had been accused of misusing approximately US$42,547 during the time he headed the government-controlled branch of Radio National in the central province of Huila.

A local police commander and several radio employees were called on to testify during the hearings. According to the judge presiding over the case, US$17,000 went missing under Amaral's management. One of the charges against Amaral relates to the purchase, allegedly at highly inflated prices, of two vehicles for official use in neighbouring Namibia.

According to reports in the weekly independent newspaper "Semanario Angolense", Radio National has set up a special attorney team to appeal against Amaral's sentence.

A source from the radio also said a legal team will now closely follow the case. "That is strange, really strange, that the court dismissed all our justifications that these were unreal charges against Amaral."

The radio station believes the journalist was sentenced to prison for political reasons, as he would often refuse to follow orders from the local governor. "He has never allowed local institutions to interfere on the radios," the source said, adding that Amaral was an independent-minded person.
Although National Radio is government-controlled, it has no obligation to act on orders from provincial governors or members of their staff.