AfricaPress-mozambique: David Simango’s lawyer says he will appeal the court ruling sentencing the former Maputo mayor to 18 months in prison, commuted to a fine. “We (the lawyer and the constituent) are going to appeal, because the case had an outcome contrary to the evidence produced,” defence attorney Raimundo Chambe said on Wednesday afternoon.
One day after sentencing, Chambe shared a set of notes which, he said, “added to other facts, will embody our appeal”.
According to the lawyer, the chairman of the board of directors and the accountant of the company Epsilon Investimentos have confirmed the signing of a promissory contract with Mrs. Celestina Jeque, to buy and sell an apartment in Avenida 24 de Julho, and that she was paying [for the apartment].
The defence lawyer’s notes also mention that the president of the Epsilon board of directors declared that the plot of land where the Shop 24 building is located was granted before David Simango was president of the Maputo Municipal Council, and that all procedures on that property took place at the time when the city of Maputo had as mayors, successively, João Baptista Cosme, Artur Canana and Eneas Comiche.
Raimundo Chambe also stated that parcel 141/5B belonged to a real estate company called Delta, which later negotiated with another real estate company, called IMOBCI, linked to BCI and, later, with Epsilon Investimentos, to carry out joint projects, ending up with the understanding that ownership of the parcel would pass to Epsilon Investimentos.
Regarding case No. 171/2020-A, which condemns the former mayor of Maputo, Chambe finds it strange that Epsilon Investimentos has not been officially named a defendant.
The lawyer underlined that, after the signing the understanding between those two real estate companies (IMOBCI and Epsilon Investimentos), and because it is the law, they went to the Municipality of Maputo to obtain the necessary authorisation (in 2010) by David Simango.
“And this [granting authorisation] is a legal obligation. It’s not something which may come out of anyone’s own mind, which means that there is no reason for the conviction,” Chambe emphasised.
The lawyer further stated that the public prosecutor representing the Attorney General’s Office at the trial, declared, in his closing arguments, that there was no evidence against David Simango.
David Simango was indicted in March, 2020, of involvement in the crimes of accepting an offer or promise and abuse of position or function, related to an apartment located on Avenida 24 de Junho, Maputo.
