UPDATE: On June 29, 2016 Luaty Beirão and 16 others arrested with him were released from prison on order of Angola’s Supreme Court.

Luaty Beirão is an Angolan rapper who performs under the name Ikonoklasta and was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison on March 28, 2016. The artist, who is well-known as an outspoken critic of Angola’s dictatorship, was charged with “rebellion against the president of the republic, criminal association and falsifying documents.” This charge was also raised against 16 other members of a pro-democracy book club in a mass trial, which saw its defendants sentenced to between 2 and 8.5 years in prison.

Beirão became prolific as an artist in 2011 in protests against Angola’s president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power for 36 years, when his song “I Am an Angolan Kamikaze Ready to Strike” became an anthem of protestors demanding democracy. From June 2015 to March 2016, the rapper was held without trial for over Angola’s legal limit of 90 days. After a 5-month hunger strike he was moved to house arrest, where he remained until his March 2016 trial.

16 other activists were sentenced with Beirão, with evidence used against them in the trial including reading a book about nonviolent revolutions and calling for the resignation of President dos Santos.

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