Ángela Freitas is an

East Timorese Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and t ...

politician, who is the leader of the Timorese Labor Party and ran in the 2017 East Timorese presidential election.

Biography

While a student, Ángela Freitas was tortured by the

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...

during the

Indonesian occupation of East Timor The Indonesian occupation of East Timor began in December 1975 and lasted until October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese Timor, Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the decolonisation of ...

. In 1988, she worked for the Institute of Human Rights within Indonesia, moving on to work for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

in 1989 as secretary of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. In the 1990s she fled to Australia, where she studied at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. Graduating with qualifications in political science and medicine, she started work at a hospital in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. This included a secondment into the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, where she worked on board a patrol vessel which intercepted refugee boats. Following the end of the Indonesian occupation in 1999, she returned to

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

. Freitas became the leader of the Timorese Labor Party, a party founded in 1974 by her father Paulo Freitas. In 2001, she was placed in a men's prison along with her children, accused of the murder of an Australian. After two weeks, she was released without charge, the victim was never found. Freitas attempted to run during the

2012 East Timorese presidential election Presidential elections were held in East Timor on 17 March 2012, with a second round on 16 April. Incumbent president José Ramos-Horta, who was eligible for a second and final term as president, announced that he would seek nomination to be a ...

, but her candidacy was rejected by the President of the Supreme Court after she failed to meet the criteria to stand. She was blamed in 2004 by the East Timor Government for a series of protests against

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the 6th prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as E ...

. After undergoing surgery in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

in 2014, she was arrested upon her return to East Timor. Freitas was arrested again the following year, after allegedly supporting Mauk Moruk. Freitas ran once again for President during the 2017 East Timorese presidential election. She finished seventh in the polling, with a total of 4,353 votes, equivalent to a 0.84% share.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Angela Living people East Timorese politicians University of Queensland alumni Royal Australian Navy personnel East Timorese women in politics East Timorese torture victims Year of birth missing (living people)