A social media influencer in Angola has had her jail sentence increased to two years for “verbally abusing” President João Lourenço on her TikTok page.
Ana da Silva Miguel, otherwise known as Neth Nahara, had initially been sentenced to jail by a law court for six months in August.
However, an appeals court had ruled that the sentence was too merciful and raised it to two years.
According to a local media report, Ms Miguel’s crime had been to accuse the president on her TikTok account of “anarchy and disorganisation.
She had also blamed the president for the insufficient number of schools, housing and employment in the oil-rich southern African country.
Note that President Lourenço had been re-elected for second term in August 2022 after a closely fought election that prolonged the ruling MPLA party’s decades-long authority.
The MPLA has been in power since independence in 1975, and the party has been accused of leading an authoritatian regime.
The appeals court in the capital, cuty, Luanda, had said that Ms Miguel had used harsh words against the president, and the fact that she had the ability to influence public opinion made her behaviour even more “objectionable”.
She had pleaded for leniency on the grounds that she was a first-time offender, a mother of young children, and felt contrite over her remarks.
However, the court had dismissed her plea, ordering her to pay President Lourenço $1,200 for the damage to his reputation.
The incarcerated Ms Miguel has over 230,000 followers on TikTok and her videos attract thousands of views.
This ruling os final. An appeal to the Supreme Court could not be made for a sentence that was less than three years.
