Angolan President João Lourenço has granted pardons to 51 individuals, including José Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos “Zénu,” son of late President José Eduardo dos Santos, as well as four activists and a digital influencer. The pardons, effective January 1, 2025, mean these individuals will no longer serve their prison sentences.
The presidential decree cited “good behavior” and the “absence of social danger” in granting freedom to the convicts, who were detained across various provinces. Among those pardoned is Zénu, the former Head of Angola’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, who had been convicted alongside three co-defendants for crimes including embezzlement and influence trafficking.
Digital influencer Ana da Silva Miguel, known as “Neth Nahara,” who was serving a two-year sentence for insulting President João Lourenço on TikTok, was also pardoned. Additionally, the clemency extends to activists Abrão Pedro dos Santos “Pensador,” Adolfo Miguel Campos André, Gilson da Silva Moreira “Tanaice Neutro,” and Hermenegildo José Victor André “Gildo das Ruas.” These individuals were imprisoned in September 2023 for allegedly insulting and outraging the president during a protest by motorcycle taxi drivers.
Amnesty International had been campaigning for the release of the activists and Neth Nahara, arguing that Angola’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression.
President Lourenço announced the pardons in his year-end address, framing the gesture as an “act of clemency” in celebration of Angola’s upcoming 50th independence anniversary, Christmas, and the New Year. Angola will mark its 50th independence anniversary on November 11, 2025, and the president expressed hope that the milestone would be celebrated in a spirit of harmony, unity, and patriotism, extending goodwill even to those serving prison sentences. The decree officially comes into force on January 1, 2025.