A prominent Angolan rapper has been
sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for planning a rebellion
against President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Luaty Beirao was
sentenced by a court in the capital, Luanda, along with 16 other
activists who were given jail terms of between two and eight years.
The 17 were arrested in June after discussing a book about non-violent resistance at their book club.
Mr dos Santos has ruled oil-rich Angola since 1979. Elite 'hoard' Angola's wealth
Beirao,
also known by his stage name Ikonoklasta, has been an outspoken critic
of the government, calling for a fairer distribution of the southern
African state's oil wealth.
He embarked on a five-week hunger strike in September to demand his release.
The
judge convicted him of "rebellion against the president of the
republic, criminal association and falsifying documents", AFP news
agency reports.
The trial had prompted global outrage, with rights groups saying it
showed that Mr dos Santos' government was becoming increasingly
repressive in its attempts to remain in power.
Prosecutors
defended the arrests, arguing that the 17 were planning an uprising
among students and workers "with incalculable consequences".
The
jailed activists, who belonged to a youth movement, had previously held
demonstrations demanding the resignation of Mr dos Santos, who has been
in power for 36 years.
Their book club had discussed the 1993 book
by Gene Sharp called From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual
Framework for Liberation.
Angola is Africa's second-largest oil producer, and has witnessed an economic boom since the end of a civil war in 2002.
However, critics of the elected government say the wealth has only benefited a small elite.
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