The judge reporting this trial, Anabela Valente, sent this message at the end of the reading of the ruling that acquitted Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Júnior “Kopelipa” and condemned Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento “Dino”, both generals and trusted men of the former President of Angola José Eduardo dos Santos (now deceased), Chinese citizen Yiu Haiming, lawyer Fernando Gomes dos Santos and the companies China International Fund (CIF), Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited.
“Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias who proves that, with his acquittal, for the future, the country and the nation gain from you an exemplary head of the family, an exemplary patriot, an exemplary guerrilla fighter for peace, harmony, social stability of Angola and Angolans”, said the rapporteur judge.
Anabela Valente praised the military history of “Kopelipa”for his contribution to the extinct Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), the former armed wing of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), party in power.
“And now, from now on, for the future, we hope to see your achievements for the advancement of the country, the nation and the next generations. Let’s think about those who will succeed us, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nephews”, he stressed.
For those convicted, the judge urged them to “think, meditate, how everything happened, why it happened and try to improve their behavior, improve their conduct”.
“We must, in fact, show that we are patriots and, when assuming certain functions, certain positions, keep in mind that Let’s serve the nation to the fullest, the State, serve our fellow citizens and earn respect for them, because we are going to move from this world to another world and the works will remain, so we must take that into consideration”, he said.
Speaking to the press, the lawyer for the companies Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited considered the ruling “bad” for a democratic State and the rule of law, claiming that valid evidence for a process is that produced during the hearing, but the court appealed “alleged statements made in preparatory instructions to support the decision”.
“Just that, in itself, already renders the ruling null and void, because the witnesses were here, they were heard, questioned, in an adversarial process and the witnesses said what they knew and what they knew and what the court did was say that it did not consider what the witnesses said”, said Benja Satula.
For the lawyer, the sentence did justice with the acquittal of one of the defendants, with the remaining defendants also being acquitted of the crime of criminal association, but, “otherwise, the ruling, It’s a bad ruling for the Angolan justice system and for the democratic rule of law”.
The ruling states that the court took the testimonies of witnesses as proven facts, some of which were given in the preparatory investigation phase, such as that of Francisco de Lemos José Maria, president of the board of directors of Sonangol at the time of the events, as they appeared to be “more credible than those given in a trial discussion hearing”.
“We noticed several memory lapses, and His face was as if, if he told the truth, he would be betraying the trust of the defendants.”said the judge, pointing out the same situation to Ernesto Norberto Garcia, at the time of the events director of the Technical Unit for Private Investment, who appeared “nervous” at the trial hearing, “dodging the questions that were asked of him”, demonstrating that he was still “protecting the defendants, admitting with some arrogance the practice of acts contrary to Private Investment Law, which was in force in Angola at the material time”.
Also Carlos Maria da Silva Feijó, according to the ruling, as head of the China International Found Angola office and the China Sonangol International Limited branch, His statements at the time of the events proved to be “more credible than those made at trial”.
“The witness, at his trial hearing, in clear support for the defendants, appeared arrogant for having been, according to him, the creator of the Land Law, the creator of the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and the State Land Zone, placing the courtroom in a classroom position”, emphasized the judge.