Luanda: The fourth session of the trial of generals Manuel Dias Jºnior ‘Kopelipa’ and Leopoldino do Nascimento ‘Dino’, held on Tuesday, was marked by controversy over the defence’s lack of an adversarial hearing after the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s response to previous questions.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the trial, in which the lawyer Fernando Gomes dos Santos, the Chinese citizen Yiu Haiming and the Chinese companies International Limited, Utter Right International Limited and Plansmart International Limited are also defendants, was entirely dedicated to the answers to the preliminary questions put to the court by the defense and to the swearing in of two Chinese interpreters provided by the Chinese embassy in Angola.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) responded to the preliminary questions raised by the defense, sought to revoke the defendants’ coercive measure, the alleged flaws in the investigation of the case and the acquittal of the defendants in most of the crimes of which they are accused, on the grounds that they are already amnestied.
The defendants are accused of the offences of influence peddling, money laundering, document forgery, criminal association and abuse of power.