Africa-Press – Angola. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) is working to, in the near future, relieve the main prisons in Zaire province, said this Wednesday in Mbanza Kongo, the coordinator of the North Judicial Region, Neto Joaquim Neto.
The Nkiende prison, located 30 km from the city of Mbanza Kongo, for example, has an installed capacity of 250 inmates, but currently houses 415 prisoners, including convicts and detainees.
According to the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic who was speaking at a meeting with the penal population of the Nkiende prison, his institution works in partnership with the District Court of Mbanza Kongo in the procedural instruction of 289 files that are in excess of preventive detention in that penitentiary unit.
He added that for convicted prisoners, whose crimes were covered in the Amnesty Law and who are still in prison, as well as those who have already served half their sentence and who are able to pay criminal rights, they should also be released to decongest the prison establishment.
The magistrate also referred to the inmates whose cases are awaiting review by the Supreme Court and with prisoners in penitentiary units should also be appealed, despite the existence of many accumulated cases.
“The PGR, as an institution that strives for legality, we are going to verify what processes there are in this circumscription so that we can communicate to the Supreme Court to deserve due attention”, he pointed out.
Neto Joaquim Neto pointed out the lack of judges in the district courts as another factor that contributes to the delay in the procedural process.
In addition to the problems related to cases of excessive pre-trial detention and space, the public prosecutor said that the Nkiende penitentiary unit is also struggling with the lack of a pavilion for arts and crafts courses and literacy classrooms.
The accentuated degradation of its facilities also appears to be one of the concerns that the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic promised to take to the competent authorities for a possible solution.
Neto Joaquim Neto spends a few days working in the province of Zaire to find out about the functioning of the justice bodies in the region.
The province of Zaire has two professional units, that of Nkiende, in Mbanza Kongo, and that of Mangue Grande, in the municipality of Soyo.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
