Trial of Rafael Marques de Morais to begin on December 15 Maka Angola, December 8, 2014 Rafael Marques de Morais is to go on trial before Judge Adriano Cerveira Baptista in the Luanda Provincial Court on December 15. Marques de Morais is charged with criminal libel for having exposed human rights abuses in the diamond-producing province of Lunda Norte in north-eastern Angola. The case has been brought by seven generals, led by the Minister of State and head of presidential security General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Júnior “Kopelipa”, as well as the generals’ fellow board members in two diamond companies, Sociedade Mineira do Cuango (SMC) and ITM-Mining. The other six generals are Carlos Alberto Hendrick Vaal da Silva (inspector general at the Angolan Armed Forces headquarters), Armando da Cruz Neto (MPLA member of parliament), Adriano Makevela Mackenzie, João Baptista de Matos, Luís Pereira Faceira and António Emílio Faceira. The case concerns the book Diamantes de Sangue: Tortura e Corrupção em Angola (Blood Diamonds: Torture and Corruption in Angola), written by the accused and published in Portugal in September 2011. The book recounts in detail more than 500 cases of torture and 100 killings carried out in a period of 18 months in the districts of Cuango and Xá-Muteba. According to statements by victims and witnesses, these abuses were carried out by guards from the private security firm Teleservice, which provides security service to SMC, and by soldiers of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). For a summary of legal proceedings against the defendant, leading to the trial on December 1, read more at: makaangola.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11507:trial-of-rafael-marques-de-morais-to-begin-on-15-december&catid=28&Itemid=230&lang=en
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:33:26 +0000
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