13 August marks one year since Neth Nahara has been imprisoned. We met with her mother, Zeferina Silva, she describes what an entire year, without her daughter has been like.
The case of Angolan Tiktoker Ana da Silva (32), AKA Neth Nahara, became internationally known after her conviction on 14 August 2023, in a summary trial, for the crime of “outrage against the state, its symbols and bodies” for recording a live video on TikTok criticizing the president of Angola, on 12 August 2023.
Initially, she had been sentenced to 6 months in prison, but her sentence was unconstitutionally extended to two years. This is not the first time someone has been convicted and sentenced for criticizing Angola’s president.
Between 2022 and 2023, musician Tanaice Neutro was jailed for 18 months for calling the president a clown. Three months after leaving prison, he was arrested again hours before taking part in a demonstration. The public prosecutor initially accused Tanaice and other four activists, of “outrage and injury to the President of the Republic” for holding a placard calling President Joao Lourenço “Incompetent.” Amid various inconsistencies and lack of evidence, the charge was changed to “disobedience and resisting orders”.
Neth Nahara and others are currently arbitrarily detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights. Their cases show the growing intolerance of critical views and crackdown on human rights in Angola.
We wanted to understand more about the Angolan woman who dared to criticize the president’s leadership on her Tiktok account. Although she is not the first person to be convicted of the crime of outrage, Neth is the first to be convicted for content posted on Tiktok.
To understand more greatly the impact of her arbitrary detention, we spoke to her mother Zeferina Silva (57), affectionately known as Tia Fina (Aunty Fina), who welcomed us into Neth’s home.
It was 8 o’clock in the morning, and the fire for cooking was already lit. “Every day it’s like this, I have to get up early and prepare the food to take to jail,” she said, and so we began our conversation.
Aunty Fina began by saying that Neth grew up with her until the age of 7, then she went to live with her father, stepmother and other siblings in Luanda, Angola’s capital. Neth made sure she never lost contact with her biological mother.
Neth’s favourite food is funge (made from corn flour) with meat, and sometimes fish. Aunty Fina recalls that when Neth was a child and watched TV, she would look at the girls with microphones and tell her mother that one day she would be on television too, that she would sing, wear pointed shoes and dance without any shame.
“She has always liked helping people since she was a child,” said Auntie Fina, and this reminded us of Neth’s (tiktok) lives in which she denounced the lack of HIV medication and said that she brought her own medication from abroad when she traveled, but she didn’t just bring it for herself, she also brought it for other people who had no way of accessing the medication in Angola’s health services.
At that moment, Aunty Fina forgot everything and was thrilled to see that her daughter had achieved most of her dreams. “Neth also liked cars and said that one day she would drive a car, today she does. My daughter has made her dreams come true. But now, with her imprisonment, her dreams have been interrupted. Our lives have changed completely.”
Aunty Fina regretted not even having the opportunity to take part in the summary trial of her daughter, who was taken from her home by the Criminal Investigation Services (SIC) on 13 August 2023.
“It’s been very difficult to look after the two kids, look after the house, cook every day and still take public transport to jail every day. I can’t take it anymore. My legs hurt and the worst days are rainy days. The whole area around the house is normally flooded and it’s very difficult to get out. I often go back and forth from jail all wet when I’m delivering food, it’s exhausting”.
“At first, when the children asked about their mother, I would lie and say that Neth had traveled. But the eldest is now 5 and already understands things. One day he asked why he can’t talk to his mother by video call, if that’s how it usually happened when his mother was travelling. The other day he asked where I take the food every day. I ended up telling the truth. He wasn’t surprised, he saw his mother being taken away by the SIC on 13 August 2023”.
“The kids have only seen Neth once, a few months ago when the prison allowed a special visit for all the prisoners. I took the children and Neth was very happy, the children were also very happy to see their mother. Neth needs to come back and look after her children. A grandmother’s care is not the same as a mother’s care.”
We also wanted to understand how Neth is doing now. In 2020, she made it public that she is HIV positive. Since her arrest in August 2023, Neth Nahara was not receiving her daily medication for the virus for eightmonths, seriously impacting her health, and putting her life at serious risk. Her health situation was critical, which led to an emergency hospitalization on 3 December 2023.
Although she now has access to her medication, Aunty Fina guaranteed that Neth’s health is stable, but her morale is low. “Being in jail is hard. She’s demoralized. We don’t know how this case will end because Neth is not like a regular prisoner, there are political motivations involved and politics isn’t easy in Angola.”
“I can’t take it anymore. My body is aching, but there’s nothing I can do, Neth is my daughter. This exercise is very difficult, it’s better to look after a sick person in hospital than a political prisoner in jail because I don’t have time to stay at home for a single day, I always have to take her food and medication”.
“It’s been very difficult, including financially. I don’t live in Luanda, I live in another province, but now I’m just here looking after the children and Neth. Neth used to look after herself financially and help me as well. Now, we’re in a very difficult situation even though Neth’s husband helps us whenever he can but is still difficult”.
“Even though Neth didn’t finish her bachelors in Law, she knows what she’s talks about, but if anyone was offended by my daughter’s words I apologize, all I want is for Neth to get out of prison because she’s suffering and her children need her, it’s not fair that they’re growing up without their mother, this imprisonment is [being] more challenging for the kids”.
“Ana has to be released. There are moments when I’m walking, it feels like I’m not walking. My body feels sore, but I must keep moving. We are one year into this. I need my daughter to be released”.
After spending the morning with Aunty Fina and seeing first hand, what her painful journey has been like, made us reflect on many other stories, some unknown, of people who are arbitrarily detained because they dared to use their voices and speak out about the country’s problems.
Auntie Fina is being a true heroine. We joined our voices to hers demanding Neth Nahara’s immediate release. Join us by staying tuned to our platforms to sign the petition and take part in Amnesty International Write for Rights Campaign.