The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the murder of Alberto Graves Chakussanga, journalist presenter of Radio Despertar who was gunned down last Sunday, 5 September 2010 by unknown gunmen at his house located in Viana District in Luanda, capital of Angola.

 “We are shocked by this senseless murder and the entire community of journalists is deeply concerned by the level of insecurity and intolerance in Angola,” said Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office. “We urge Angolan authorities and law enforcement bodies to ensure his killers are brought to justice”.

Alberto Graves Chakussanga, 32, was a presenter of a weekly, Umbundu-language news call-in program on Radio Despertar which was critical of the ruling MPLA government. He was also a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the Agostinho Neto state university and at the Angolan police academy, according to local sources. He was found by his neighbours and relatives lying in the kitchen of his house with a bullet wound in his back.

A few hours before his death, Chakussanga had left his pregnant wife at a hospital where she gave birth later that day to a baby boy. According to local sources, police say Chakussanga was killed after a long conversation with unknown assassins, but no arrests have been made so far. 

 Chakussanga had a following with the Ovimbundu, Angola’s largest ethnic group from the south of the country, a stronghold of former rebel movement UNITA, according to local journalists. Radio Despertar was launched in December 2006, under the terms of the 2002 peace deal between the ruling MPLA and UNITA. 

 In a press conference on 7 September 2010, Rui Falcão, Secretary of information of the MPLA politburo accused Radio Despertar of repeatedly inciting the population to commit “civil disobedience” since 6 September 2010 in support of the opposition former rebel movement UNITA, according to news reports. The accusations were based on interviews and commentary that criticized the government’s performance. In a press statement published on 7 September, the radio rejected totally this information which it qualified as “unfounded and slanderous” and reaffirmed its editorial independence.

 The IFJ calls on the Angolan authorities to quickly open an objective investigation in order to identify the murderers of Chakussanga and punish them according to the law. The IFJ demands the end of threats and intimidation against Radio Despertar.

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The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide