Africa-Press – Angola. Two foreign citizens, allegedly of Russian nationality, were arrested on Thursday (7) in Luanda by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), on suspicion of committing the crimes of criminal association, document forgery, terrorism, and terrorist financing.
According to a press release from the SIC, the arrests followed an investigation into three Russian citizens also previously arrested, which culminated in arrest warrants issued by the Public Prosecutor’s
Office.
The citizens, allegedly of Russian nationality, are identified as Ígor Racthin “Ígor” 38, and Lev akshtanov “Lev,” 64. These foreign citizens’ actions consisted of recruiting and financing Russian nationals to produce propaganda materials and spread false information on social media, promote demonstrations, and commit looting.
The statement also states that the operations were carried out in coordination between the national directorates for Combating Corruption Crimes and the Operations Center, in conjunction with other
defense and security agencies.
It further adds that their arrests resulted from a thorough ongoing investigation, which revealed that these individuals are linked to international criminal organizations.
These organizations operate in Africa and are dedicated to developing strategies for disinformation and propaganda campaigns on social media in countries during pre-campaign phases or even during electoral, legislative, or presidential campaigns, aiming to change legally established regimes by altering the order, according to the statement.
It also states that the SIC determined their direct participation in the Criminal Association with the already detained nationals, making it possible to seize various pieces of evidence during the
micro-operation.
These assets include computers of various brands, memory cards, external hard drives, flash drives, several cell phones, SIM cards, various documents, and receipts of financial transfers used for
criminal activity.
It also reports that monetary amounts in US dollars, kwanzas, and rubles (the Russian currency) were also seized. In the same statement, the SIC adds that it is on the trail of other suspects already
identified, who received amounts in US dollars and kwanzas that would be used to finance demonstrations in the provinces of Luanda and Benguela.
It emphasizes that, once all formalities are completed, the detained citizens will be brought before the Public Prosecutor’s Office for legal proceedings, while other investigations continue in this case.
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