Africa-Press – Angola. The trial of Angolan generals Helder Vieira Dias `Kopelipa` and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento and five other defendants has been postponed until March 10, 2025 due to failure to comply with a legal formality, the judge in charge of the case announced.
Scheduled to begin today at the Supreme Court, Judge Anabela Valente announced in the presence of the defendants the postponement of the trial, claiming that there had been “a legal procedural formality” omitted, as provided for in the Angolan Procedural Code.
Generals Helder Vieira Dias Júnior and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento, nicknamed `Dino`, and five other defendants, including three companies, are accused of the crimes of influence peddling and money laundering, among others, as part of a case that also involves the Angolan subsidiary of the China International Fund.
Manuel Helder Vieira Dias, former Minister of State and Head of the Security Office of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, is accused of crimes of embezzlement, fraud by defrauding, document forgery, criminal association, influence peddling, abuse of power and money laundering, a total of seven crimes.
According to the indictment, the former head of the Angolan secret services is accused of crimes of embezzlement, fraud by defrauding, document forgery, criminal association, influence peddling, abuse of power and money laundering, a total of seven crimes.
The former head of communications services “Dino”, as well as lawyer Fernando Gomes dos Santos and You Haiming, from China International Fund, will answer for the crimes of fraud, document forgery, criminal association, influence peddling and money laundering.
The case also involves the companies China International Fund Angola, Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited, which were accused of influence peddling, money laundering, fraud and document forgery, but will only be held accountable for the first two crimes, since, at the time of the events, Angolan law did not provide for the criminalization of the last two legal types.
The companies were allegedly used by the defendants to set up a scheme that defrauded the Angolan state of millions of dollars, involving a financing agreement between Angola and China to support national reconstruction, following the civil war that ended in 2002.
According to the lawsuit, in 2020, the two former strongmen of José Eduardo dos Santos, former President of Angola, who died in 2022, had to hand over to the State several companies and buildings owned by CIF and Cochan, SA, including cement and beer factories, a supermarket chain and residential buildings.
The former Vice-President of Angola and former leader of Sonangol, Manuel Vicente, is not among the defendants. His name is also absent from the list of more than 30 witnesses, despite being mentioned in the case, in connection with his links to CIF.
The court rejected the declaration of nullity of the notification of the indictment requested by the lawyers of General “Dino” (who wanted the 1929 Code of Criminal Procedure to be applied to the case), due to “clear inadmissibility, in homage to the principles of procedural speed, procedural economy and maximum legal use of acts already carried out”.
In the context of the adversarial investigation, requested by “Kopelipa”, Fernando Gomes dos Santos, Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited, the court considered that the defendants “did not bring relevant elements to refute the accusation” and considered that sufficient evidence had been collected to indict (bring to trial) all the defendants in the case.
In a statement released on Monday, the Supreme Court’s Communications Office states that the process has 38 declarants and witnesses, with the panel of judges chaired by Judge Anabela Vicente, with Marinho Nunes and Inácio Paixão as deputies.
Prosecutor Lucas Ramos represents the Public Prosecutor’s Office in this process, with the defense being provided by lawyers Bangula Cuemba, Benja Satula and Amaral Gourgel.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
