Cuango - The District Court of Cuango, province of Lunda-Norte, on Wednesday condemned five members of the 'Movimento Protetorado Lunda Tchokwe, with sentences ranging from five to eight years in prison, for armed rebellion and association of criminals.
According to the sentence, these are Alexandre João (8 years in prison), Pinto Avelino (5 years), Marcelino Dos Santos (5 years), João Muatxinguenji (5 years), Orlando Muhengo (5 years) and António Sebastian (6 years old).
In February 2022, in the same case, the Chitato District Court sentenced the leader of the aforementioned movement, José Mateus “Zecamutchima”, to four years and six months in prison, for the crime of association of criminals.
At the time, defendant Ipanga Chambangula was also sentenced to four years and six months in prison and jointly paid 500 thousand kwanzas in court fees.
The leader of the aforementioned “movement” and eight other co-accused were acquitted of the crime of armed rebellion, mutiny and against the security of the State, due to insufficient evidence, taking into account the principle “in dúbio pro reu,”.
The judge in the case, Baptista Guenjo, ordered, at the time, the immediate expulsion, from Angolan territory, of four defendants to their country of origin (Democratic Republic of Congo), for violating immigration regulations and illegal stay.
The Chitato Court sentenced, in absentia, 13 other co-accused with a suspended sentence of two years in prison, for the crimes of armed rebellion, mutiny or uprising, benefiting from the extraordinary mitigation of the current penal code, economic and social situation, as well as the absence of criminal record.
History
In the early hours of January 30, 2021, around 400 individuals belonging to the aforementioned “Movement”, armed with firearms, arrows, homemade explosive devices, pitchforks, blunt objects and superstition statues, attacked a police station in Cafunfu, in the municipality of Cuango, with the aim of occupying it and proceeding with the deposition of the flag.
According to the prosecution of the Public Ministry, in February 2018, José Domingos Mateus “Zecamutchima”, in the guise of president of the aforementioned “Movement” addressed a letter to the Civil House of the President of the Republic, requesting authorization to hold demonstrations in the provinces of Moxico, of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul, having been instructed to direct this request to local governments.
Subsequently, the accusation continues, “Zecamutchima” asked the Municipal Administration of Cuango for the “Movement” to be authorized to hold a march, on January 30, 2021, a request that was denied under the Presidential Decree on the Calamity Situation Public, which prohibited the gathering of people.
Faced with their refusal, in the early hours of January 30, 2021, they attacked the Cafunfu police station, resulting in deaths and injuries. HD/DOJ
