Africa-Press – Angola. Constitutionalists interviewed by DW point out inconsistencies in the case of the individuals accused of planning terrorist acts in Angola and suggest that the intention was to harm UNITA.
Angola was taken by surprise when the spokesperson for the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), Manuel Halaiwa, appeared on television, stating that the authorities had stopped a terrorist plan that was to be carried out during the visit to the country of former US President Joe Biden.
“So much was already known before the trial, because the trial was held in public auction through television performances,” he declared.
According to the SIC spokesperson, in order to achieve their objectives, those involved armed themselves with explosive devices, including grenades. For constitutionalist Nascimento Tete, the process is marred by inconsistencies:
“And then, later on, he comes to change the information he gave to the public, that in fact there were 60 explosives. Here the question arises, how much material did these citizens actually have in their possession? 60 tons or 60 explosives?”
Pursuit in all directions
But in the end, there were ten explosives. During the court hearings, the defendants stated that they had been sponsored with three million Kwanzas by leading figures of the largest opposition party, UNITA, including the president of the parliamentary group, Liberty Chiyaka, and of the party, Adalberto Costa Júnior.
“And the intention is political, all the elements that aim to harm not only these personalities, but UNITA itself appear here,” said the university professor.
Can UNITA be extinguished?
The law on political parties and the Constitution of the Republic of Angola state that a political party can be dissolved if it is involved in illegal activities, including financing terrorism. Will the leaders of the parliamentary group and the UNITA party be named as defendants? How could UNITA’s image be affected by these allegations? Speaking to DW, constitutional lawyer Lindo Bernardo Tito said he does not believe that this will happen, because he believes that “those trials, everything that is happening is a joke.”
Judges forget about letters rogatory
This legal professional insists that it was necessary to make a letter rogatory to the authorities of Burkina Faso because the accused claimed to have had a meeting with and support from authorities in that country.
“Why didn’t the procedural instruction send a letter rogatory so that the Presidency could be heard? It had to be exactly like that, to say, ‘yes, you had a meeting with us’. This didn’t happen. It is a serious farce that involves another State”, assured the jurist.
It should be noted that the authorities made public the arrests of those involved in January of this year. The alleged leader of the group of seven people, João Deussino, 34, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and the others received shorter sentences. One person was acquitted of the charges. The defense of the accused will appeal. UNITA, on the other hand, promises to react as soon as the presidents of the parliamentary group, Liberty Chiyaka, and of the party, Adalberto Costa Júnior, are notified.
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