TikToker Neth Nahara was first sentenced to six months before her prison sentence was increased to two years.
Neth Nahara, whose real name is Ana da Silva Miguel, was handed a six-month jail sentence in August 2023 for Angolan President João Lourenço on TikTok.
However, an appeals court days ago ruled that TikToker’s sentence was too lenient and raised it to two years.
Nahara accused the president of causing anarchy and disorganisation in Angola on her TikTok account.
She also blamed the head of state for the lack of schools, housing and employment in the oil-rich Portuguese speaking southern African state.
The appeals court in the capital, Luanda, said that the Tiktoker had used offensive words against the president, and the fact that she had the ability to influence public opinion made her conduct “more objectionable”.
Nahara has more than 230,000 followers on TikTok and her videos attract thousands of views.
She had pleaded for leniency on the grounds that she was a first-time offender, a mother of young children, and regretted her remarks.
But the court dismissed her plea, and went further to order her to pay President Lourenço $1,200/Ksh178,980 for the damage caused to his reputation.
Judge Salomão Raimundo Kulanda described the president as “sovereign”, and said the TikToker was aware of this.
Nahara’s lawyer said that the ruling was final since an appeal to the Supreme Court could not be made for a sentence that is less than three years.
The TikToker will now serve her full two year prison sentence unless the president himself pardons her.
