Angola: Protest and media crackdown

On the morning of 12 March, 20 computers were seized from the offices of the outspoken Folha 8, one of Angola’s few remaining private publications that is critical of the government, under a warrant investigating 'crimes of outrage against the state' and violations of press freedom. The effective shut-down of the paper and the questioning of its editor, William Tonet, whose mobile phone battery was also confiscated, comes just 48 hours after attempts by Angolan youths to stage demonstrations in the capital Luanda and southern coastal city of Benguela. Heavily armed police broke up the crowds making several arrests.