The start of the interrogation in the trial involving five former public managers from the province of Huambo, between 2010 and 2014, scheduled for yesterday, Tuesday, was postponed to the 18th of this month, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office magistrate
The new trial of the well-known “Restos a Pagar” case, which began last Monday (11), takes place in the hearing room of the 1st section of criminal matters of the Huambo District Court, in compliance with ruling 5196/19 of the Supreme Court, which annulled the decision taken in the first instance.
According to the judge indicated in the case, António Correia Tembo, in the request made to the presiding judge of the case, Bruno de Melo, three more days are needed to better contact the case and, subsequently, continue the interrogation of the co-accused, indicted in the practice of embezzlement. He said, according to Angop, that he was replacing one of his colleagues, who currently had health problems, which is why he needed more days to thoroughly examine the dossier, which he considered quite complex.
These are the defendants João Sérgio Raúl (at the time of the events general secretary of the Government of the Province of Huambo), Victor Chissingui (former director of the Studies, Planning and Statistics office) and Constantino César (head of the Administration, Heritage department , IT, Budget Management and Transport of the General Secretariat of the Government of the province of Huambo). The co-defendants also include Claudino Sicato Tiago (former head of the Budget Execution and Accounting section of the General Secretariat of the Government of Huambo) and Cândido Abel Camuti (director of the office of the then local governor, Fernando Faustino Muteka).
Without any objection from the lawyers, as it is necessary for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the holder of the criminal action, to have contact with the case files to arrive at the material truth of the facts, the judge granted the request under paragraph 3 of article 377 of the Angolan Criminal Procedure Code, rescheduling the hearing for next Monday (18). Last Monday, the first day of the trial, the session was marked by preliminary questions, where the lawyers put into practice their strategies to conduct the process in favor of the constituents, while the Public Prosecutor’s Office defended the interrogation of the co-accused to establish the truth of the facts.
The presiding judge of the case, Bruno de Melo, ruled in favor of the nullity of some previous questions raised by the lawyers and others he dismissed, noting that this was not a new process, but rather a new trial, in compliance with ruling 5196/ 19 of the Supreme Court. It should be remembered that four of the five co-accused, except the former director of the office of the then governor of the province of Huambo, Cândido Abel Camuti, had already been sentenced, in 2020, by the Huambo District Court, to nine years in prison. , for the crime of embezzlement, however this decision was annulled by the Supreme Court.
In the trial ruling, it had been proven that the co-defendants caused global losses to the budgetary unit of the Government of the province of Huambo and six new independent bodies, at the time, of one billion, 176 million and 118 thousand kwanzas, from which they directly benefited from the value of 488 million, 40 thousand, 685 kwanzas and 39 cents, in addition to other public goods.
