Interpol issues alert for the capture of Isabel dos Santos

18
Interpol issues alert for the capture of Isabel dos Santos
Interpol issues alert for the capture of Isabel dos Santos

Africa-Press – Angola. Interpol issued a red alert to detain businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, accused of several crimes, sources from the international police organization and the Criminal Investigation Service confirmed yesterday.

According to RNA, which reported the fact, Interpol’s red alert follows a request made by the Angolan authorities, who saw all attempts to hear the businesswoman fail.

With this red alert, Interpol asks local security forces and around the world to locate and provisionally detain the former chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol.

Interpol clarifies that this red alert is not exactly an international arrest warrant, but rather a request from one State to others, distributed through it, with the sole purpose of locating and temporarily detaining, for 72 hours, the person in question. pending extradition, voluntary surrender or similar legal action.

The SIC source assured that the red alert was issued a few days ago, at Interpol headquarters, in Lyon, France, and that it will soon be available for compliance. “This is a request from Angola to all countries that make up Interpol, so that they locate and provisionally arrest businesswoman Isabel dos Santos. After Interpol sends this alert to all Member States, it will be up to each country to decide, according to national legislation, whether or not to detain her and hand her over to the Angolan authorities,” said the source from the Criminal Investigation Service.

On Monday, the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, confirmed the issue, at the beginning of November, of an international arrest warrant against businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, and that the Angolan authorities are working with the Interpol for its location as it is not known where it is.

“Here in Angola we have an Interpol representation and that’s where we delivered this documentation. From there, the entire process goes to Interpol’s headquarters, which, in turn, will disseminate it to all the countries that are part of the international security agency. Police”, said the Attorney General, adding that if Isabel dos Santos is available, she must reveal the country where she is located, as well as her specific address, so that in this way we can send a rogatory letter to this country. the lawyers, but in the criminal process the interrogation has to be done to the targeted persons and not to the lawyers, she must be present and the lawyer must accompany her”, he stressed.

Isabel dos Santos is being sought for crimes such as embezzlement, qualified fraud, money laundering, among others.

According to the PGR, Isabel dos Santos is the target of a criminal process that is ongoing and in 2018 there was a first attempt to notify her, including several others abroad, but without success.

The Attorney General of the Republic stated that the PGR gave businesswoman Isabel dos Santos several opportunities for her to respond to the notifications: “We sent several notifications and none was answered. After four years with the process stopped, we decided as a last resort to issue the warrant,” he stressed.

The international arrest warrant against Isabel dos Santos was issued only now, two years after the preventive seizure of many of her assets, bank accounts and shareholdings in Angola and abroad. Defense lawyers and the businesswoman herself have denied, however, the existence of an international arrest warrant, as has been alleged by the PGR.

For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here