Angola

The promotion or facilitation of prostitution involve taking advantage of the victim’s economic necessity or vulnerability or coerce the victim by means of violence, threat or fraud pursuant to article 189, and it is punished with a sentence of 1-8 years of imprisonment. If the facilitation or coercion to prostitution is made in a foreign country, the crime committed falls within article 190, i.e. human sexual trafficking, which command a higher sentencing of up to 10 years in prison.

The defendant, a nurse, was charged with the crimes of indecent assault and abortion, for which he was sentenced in 2016 to cumulatively serve five years and two months in prison and ordered to pay monetary compensation to the victim, who was his niece. It was established that the defendant and the victim began a relationship when she was 15 years old and, in course of the relationship and while she was still underage, the defendant performed three abortions with the victim’s consent. On one occasion, a member of the family accidentally witnessed the abortion.

The trial court convicted the accused of one count of murder and sentenced him to 17 years in prison, in addition to financial compensation the victim’s family. The circumstances of the case showed that the accused and the victim were consuming drugs by a local river when, for unrevealed reasons, he pushed her over the stairs which led to the river, at a height of approximately five meters. The victim ended up by the water with bruises on her face and a broken neck, which was stated as the cause of death.

The defendant was accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment, in addition to paying of kz. 1.500.000,00 (1.5 million kwanzas, i.e. approximately US$ 2,300) to the victim’s family, plus court expenses. The prosecution (Ministério Público) then appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that, in accordance with the court’s own jurisprudence, the compensation amount should be risen to kz. 2.000.00,00, i.e. the equivalent of US$ 3,100.

The appellant was convicted of two accounts of domestic violence in the form of sexual assault of two minors (11 and 9-years-old) and sentenced to 8 years in prison, in addition to payment of a compensation to the victims.

The appellant was convicted of statutory rape of his partner’s 8-year-old daughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison as well as of payment of a compensation to the victim. Before the trial, the appellant confessed having sexual relations with the minor, arguing that it only happened because he was under the influence of alcohol and had mistaken her for his partner. In his appeal, he, however, 1) denied all accusations against him, 2) argued that no evidence was produced against him, and 3) alleged that his partner had convinced the victim to accuse him of the crime.