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File photo / Rafael Marques de Morais
The Luanda Provincial Court on Friday acquitted journalists Rafael Marques and Mariano Brás, accused of crimes of libel and insult to the sovereign body in a lawsuit filed by the former Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Angola.
The decision to acquit was announced in the afternoon, after a long period when the court read the outlines of the case.
In court, General João Maria de Sousa’s lawyers called for the two journalists to be convicted for publishing an article, two years ago, to pay total compensation of 4 million Kwanzas (€13,500).
A news article dated November 2016, published on the investigative website Maka Angola, journalist Rafael Marques, with the title “Attorney General of the Republic involved in corruption,” which denounced an allegedly illegal business deal carried out by João Maria de Sousa, involving the acquisition of a three-hecatre plot of land in Porto Amboim, in the Angolan province of Kwanza Sul, to build a residential condominium.
The report was later taken up by Mariano Brás for his weekly publication “O Crime”, which led de Sousa to accuse the journalists of crimes of libel and insult to the sovereign body.
During the trial, the prosecution was rebutted by defence lawyers, claiming that the sources of information were cited, meaning that their intention to report could not be interpreted as a crime.
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