20100712
reuters

LUANDA (Reuters) - Four human rights activists went on trial in Angola's oil producing region of Cabinda on Monday on unspecified charges of crimes against the state.

The defendants were all arrested shortly after a Cabinda separatist group attacked the Togo national soccer team on Jan 8, as it prepared for the African Nations Cup in Angola. Two people were killed in the assault.

The trial took place under heavy police presence and just days after the exiled leaders of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) said the group's three-decade long fight was no longer viable and offered to start talks with the government.

The arrests of priest Raul Tati, lawyer Francisco Luemba, economist Belchior Tati and engineer Barnabe Paca Peso were widely seen as a sign that Angolan authorities were cracking down on its critics.

Some of the accused had links to the now banned Cabindan human rights organisation Mpalabanda and have for many years criticised both the government and the FLEC.

"These men have been arrested simply for peacefully expressing their opinion about Cabinda, by authorities that are taking advantage of the attack on the Togolese football team to crack down on human rights defenders." Muluka-Anne Miti, Angola researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

Angola's secretary of state for human rights and president of the Cabindan Dialogue Forum, Antonio Bento Bembe, told Reuters talks between the government and FLEC leaders were underway but added these negotiations would not influence the outcome of the trial.

The trial, which was originally set to take place on June 23, was delayed after one of the defendant's lawyer raised doubts about the legality of the accusations being brought against his client.