Ondjiva - The Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, confirmed on Tuesday, that the criminal case against Isabel dos Santos, accused of several crimes during her management of the oil company Sonangol will go to court within 10 days.
The prosecutor, who was speaking on the sidelines of the closing of the IV extended meeting of the southern judicial region of the PGR, in the province of Cunene, said that the preparatory instruction of the case has been completed and the indictment has been prepared, and will go to court soon.
He informed that in this case the lawyers have already been notified, and they are only waiting for their reaction to go to court and that “for now everything remains a secret of justice”.
Hélder Pitta Groz clarified that three Portuguese citizens are listed in the process, members of the team that worked with Isabel dos Santos as chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol.
Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos is accused of 11 crimes in the case, which involves her management of the Angolan state oil company between 2016 and 2017.
She is accused of embezzlement, aggravated fraud, abuse of power, breach of trust, forgery of documents, criminal association, economic participation in business, influence peddling, money laundering, tax and qualified fraud.
On June 3, 2016, Isabel dos Santos was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol, a structure that also included Sarju Raikundalia, initially a non-executive director, before becoming an executive in charge of the financial management of the oil company, at a time when she held stakes in the consulting firm PwC.
New magistrates strengthen the southern judicial region
In the closing ceremony of the IV extended meeting of the Attorney General's Office, the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, assured the reinforcement of new magistrates in the southern judicial region, with the purpose of ensuring greater speed and compliance with judicial actions.
Currently, the PGR has 68 public prosecutors in the southern region, including two at the coordination headquarters, 16 in Cunene, 11 in Cuando Cubango, 26 in Huíla and 13 in Namibe province.
Without specifying numbers, he stated that the placement of new prosecutors is imminent, taking into account the dynamism of the procedural action and the current challenges.
Pitta Groz recalled that the PGR's regional judicial coordinators, as entities that monitor and resolve problems in each area of jurisdiction, will help to standardize labor procedures in the provinces that make up the areas they manage.
Hélder Pitta Groz called for more engagement and communication between provincial holders and coordinators, who must always try to do their best in their work to dignify and maintain the spirit of acceptance of the PGR.
He also highlighted the importance of holding the Workshop on “cattle theft in the southern region of Angola”, as an aspect that most worries communities to jointly find viable solutions to combat such practices.
Furthermore, he considered the balance of the work carried out by the body in 2023 to be positive, taking into account the number of existing magistrates.
During 2023, the PGR in the southern Judicial Region initiated 24,777 criminal, civil, administrative, family, labor and minor criminal cases, of which 5,077 were sent to the courts.
The two-day meeting analyzed the functioning of SIGNUP, the impact of the Guarantee judge's actions on the activity of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the management of preventive detention periods, analysis of appeals filed with the court of second instance. PEM/LHE/VIC/DOJ
