Staff Reporter
A HIGH-PROFILE court case in which two Russian nationals, an Angolan journalist and an opposition party youth leader stood trial in Luanda on terrorism charges has been finalised.
The Russians, Igor Ratchin Mihailovich and Lev Matveevich Lakshtanov, and sports journalist Amor Carlos Tome were found guilty. UNITA youth leader Francisco Oliveira, known as “Buka Tanda”, was acquitted.
Mihailovich was sentenced to 11 years in prison for criminal association, espionage, terrorism and money laundering.
Lakshtanov received eight years for criminal association, espionage and terrorism.
Tome was given a two-year suspended sentence.
Oliveira was found not guilty on all charges.
The quartet was arrested in Luanda in August last year following violent demonstrations by taxi drivers the previous month over fuel price hikes and increased public transport fares. The protests left at least 29 people dead and caused widespread vandalism. Police arrested dozens of demonstrators in the aftermath.
According to the indictment, there were 11 charges against the Russians, nine against Tome and five against Oliveira.
The court found that the Russians operated under “Africa Politology”, a network linked to the former Wagner Group. The network allegedly spent about US$150,000 to fund the violent demonstrations, and more than US$24,000 to pay journalists and experts to spread disinformation aimed at “regime change.”
Prosecutors said the Russians entered Angola in 2024 under the pretext of opening a cultural centre, but instead financed demonstrations and influenced local media through the creation and dissemination of subversive texts and opinions.
PICTURED: (From left to right) Russians Lev Matveevich Lakshtanov, Igor Ratchin Mihailovich and Angolan journalist Amor Carlos Tomé. Photo: RFI
