Africa-Press – Angola. The magistrates of the southern judicial region of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) proposed this Tuesday, in the province of Cunene, the need to change the penalties provided for in the Penal Code on the crimes of theft and cattle theft, with a view to discourage such practices.
The Angolan Penal Code, in its article 393, states that the penalties for cattle theft range from five to eight years in prison, depending on the assessment made at the time of the quantity and the calculation of the cost of the animal in the amount of 300 thousand kwanzas.
The law provides that if the stolen animals do not exceed three million kwanzas, the offense is punishable for five years, but while the case is being investigated, the accused remains in preventive detention or pays a bond to the State to be free.
The proposal appears in the final communiqué of the IV expanded meeting of the southern judicial region of the PGR, which took place from the 15th to the 16th of this month, in the city of Ondjiva, under the guidance of the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz.
When reading the statement, the deputy attorney general of the Republic, coadjutor of the southern judicial region, Vanderley Mateus, said that the body will prepare a proposal to change the penalties provided for in the Penal Code to be submitted to the National Assembly.
He said that members recognized that cattle theft in Southern Angola is an issue that concerns traditional farmers and breeders, hence the need to review the Penal Code to ensure greater protection of this asset.
The magistrates also recommended the promotion of legal education activities for livestock breeders and the general population, the creation of a rural police and improving the control and census of existing livestock with the introduction of the animal coding system.
The meeting highlighted the need for the digitalization of PGR services, the acquisition of IT resources that enable more reliable data storage and the acquisition of means of transport to ensure the efficiency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s operations.
It should be noted that in the province of Cunene, police agencies recorded 158 crimes of theft and theft of livestock in 2023 and the actions culminated in the recovery of 550 animals of different species, 168 cattle, 365 goats, 13 pigs, four donkeys and two sheep.
The meeting was scheduled with a presentation by the new deputy attorney general in the province of Cunene, Beatriz dos Santos, who replaced Américo Cassoma, placed under the jurisdiction of the Benguela Court of Appeal.
Following the meeting, a workshop was held on “cattle theft and theft in the southern region of Angola”, which brought together magistrates from the Public Ministry and the civil and military forum court from the provinces of Cunene, Cuando Cubango, Huíla, Namibe , livestock breeders, members of defense and security bodies, civil authorities and bodies that administer justice.
During two days of work, which included the magistrates, they analyzed the functioning of SIGNUP, the impact of the performance of the Guarantee judge on the activity of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the management of preventive detention periods and the analysis of appeals filed with the court of second instance..
The Attorney General of the Republic Hélder Pitta Groz, accompanied by the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, companion and coordinator of the Southern Judicial Region, Hernâni Beira Grande, completed a three-day working day in the province of Cunene.
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