But the committee singled out President dos Santos as one of 10 worst enemies of the press. There will be an incredible amount of self-censorship. The way Angola is run today, anything can happen. And the government has taken the unusual step of inviting journalists and others to voice their opinions on the legislation, which is expected to become law by year's end. We want a democratic discussion of the proposed law.
Freedom of information is a very important factor in a democracy.
What we intend to do is to find a law that everybody can accept so that we will avoid trouble in the future. But journalists here say the government abuses the existing law. Mr. Marques was sentenced to six months in prison, pending the outcome of an appeal. May. Mr. Neto defended the arrests, saying the news media are inevitably under tougher scrutiny because the country is at war. The government pressure has already had a chilling effect.