Africa-Press – Angola. The trial of the “Restos a Pagar” case, which involves former public managers, between 2010 and 2014, initially scheduled for this Monday, at the Huambo District Court, was postponed due to the absence of public prosecutors (MP).
The information was given to the press, outside the third criminal section of the Huambo District Court, by one of the defense lawyers, Bruno Sucumula, according to whom the absence of the MP magistrates forced the judge in the case to suspend the discussion of the test material until next Monday (11).
The defendants are João Sérgio Raul (at the time of the events, secretary general of the Government of the province of Huambo), Victor Chissingui (former director of the Studies, Planning and Statistics office), Constantino César (head of the Administration, Heritage, Information Technology department , Budget and Transport Management of the Secretary-General of the Government of the province of Huambo) and Claudino Sicato Tiago (head of the Budget Execution and Accounting section, also, of the Secretary-General).
Bruno Sucumula, the lawyer for co-accused João Sérgio Raul, said that the advance is reasonable and prudent, as evidence cannot be conducted without the presence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the holder of the criminal case.
He explained that the judge in the case, Bruno de Melo, rescheduled the hearing for next Monday (11) hoping that, by then, the Public Prosecutor’s Office magistrates would be able to attend the trial session, at a time when the trade union called for a partial strike.
Observing the principle of judicial secrecy, Bruno Sucumula informed that the trial of the co-accused, who had already been sentenced by the same Court, this in 2020, to nine years in prison, will take place as a result of ruling 5196/19 of the Supreme Court, which annulled the decision taken in the first instance.
In the ruling, according to the lawyer, the Supreme Court considers that there has been a violation of the rules for producing evidence, essential due diligence and the discovery of the material truth.
He said he hoped for greater speed in the process of producing evidence, to search for the material truth of the “Restos a Pagar” case and bring justice to justice.
In turn, lawyer Nascimento Dinis, in defense of co-defendant Constantino César, said that from a legal point of view, the annulment of the first instance judgment handed down by the Supreme Court is normal and fair, taking into account the appeal filed against the decision.
He added that it was a very complex process, as there were many issues involved, from a formal and criminal material point of view, raised by the defense lawyers to the Supreme Court, which upheld the appeal.
In the ruling of the trial held in 2020, it had been proven that the co-defendants caused global losses to the budgetary unit of the Government of the province of Huambo and six new independent bodies, at the time, of one billion, 176 million and 118 thousand Kwanzas, of which directly benefited from the amount of 488 million, 40 thousand, 685 Kwanzas and 39 cents.
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