Freed rapper vows to fight on

– An Angolan activist rapper who spent nearly a year behind bars has vowed to step up his vocal campaign against President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, despite the risk of returning to jail.

“There’s a lot to be done in Angola and I’m trying to do my part,” Luaty Beirao said two months after his release. He was held on charges of plotting a rebellion against Dos Santos.

Beirao, a well-known rapper, was arrested during a book club meeting in June last year where one of the titles up for discussion was about non-violent resistance to repressive regimes.

He and his 16 co-accused maintained they were peaceful campaigners lobbying for Dos Santos, 73, to step down. In June, the Supreme Court ordered their release under restrictions.

Sitting on a black leather couch in his home in a trendy Luanda suburb, Beirao has regained the weight he lost during a 36-day hunger strike in prison last year.

But he hasn’t changed his stance and his message to Dos Santos is this: “Leave power, you have nothing left to give.”

Beirao’s freedom is conditional: monthly appearances at a police station and a ban against leaving the country.

But the dual nationality Portuguese-Angolan, who has always maintained his innocence, says he has no intention of fleeing the country. – AFP

Luanda