Angolan opposition journalist’s wife assaulted in apparent retaliation for his reporting

At around 6 p.m. on September 20, two unidentified men whose faces were concealed by surgical masks broke into the Pinto home in Luanda, the capital, according to a statement by Radio Despertar, media reports, and the journalist and his wife, who both spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Claudio Pinto, who hosts the current affairs show “In” on Radio Despertar, which is owned by the opposition party National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), was not home at the time. The men tied Ludmila Pinto’s arms and legs with a clothesline and repeatedly slapped her, punched her stomach, and kicked her all over her body while also threatening to kill their one-year-old crying son, the journalist told CPJ. One of the attackers went to the kitchen, heated a kitchen knife, and cut Ludmila Pinto at least 16 times on her arms and 12 times on her legs, she told CPJ. The men said they “would return to finish the job if her husband did not shut up,” she said. “Authorities must thoroughly investigate the brutal attack on Radio Despertar journalist Claudio Pinto’s wife and son and ensure that the perpetrators are speedily arrested and successfully prosecuted,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “Failure to do so will send a message that it’s more of the same in President João Lourenço’s second term as president of Angola, where journalists continue to be denied their right to work without fear and self-censorship is endemic.”