Luanda – Angola’s Supreme Court (TS) has rejected the conditional release request filed by the former Transport minister Augusto Tomás, sentenced to seven years and one month in prison, after the reformulation of the legal framework.
Detained since September 2018, Augusto Tomás reached the middle of his sentence in April this year (2022).
ANGOP learnt Wednesday that in its ruling the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, considering the "sentence lenient for such serious behaviour of the accused".
In August 2019, the former minister Augusto Tomás was sentenced to 14 years in prison, following the “CNC case”.
In the case of the CNC (National Council of Shippers)
The "CNC” case emerged following the publication of the results of the report of the General Inspectorate of State Administration (IGAE) carried out by the National Council of Shippers (CNC), an institute headed by the Ministry of Transport.
Among the various irregularities detected, stress goes to the cases of nepotism, embezzlement and corruption, on a large scale, and evidence of organised crime.
Therefore, Augusto Tomás was dismissed as Minister of Transport, replaced by Ricardo de Abreu.
The departure of Augusto Tomás followed the controversy around a public-private partnership announced for the creation of an airline.
Three months after his acquittal, Augusto Tomás was arrested on September 21, 2018, on a Friday, after being heard at the National Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DNIAP) of the Attorney General Office (PGR) and taken to the São Paulo Prison Hospital in Luanda.
In a statement, the PGR explained that Augusto Tomás had been detained following a measure of personal coercion applied for proof of crimes of embezzlement and corruption in the management of the CNC.
However, the PGR detained the former director general of CNC, Manuel António Paulo, the deputy director general of administration and finance, Isabel Bragança, and the deputy director general of the technical sector, Rui Moita.
