The Supreme Court of Angola has granted conditional release to former Angolan Transport Minister Augusto Tomás, who is now obliged to reside in Luanda and pay the total compensation he was convicted of.
In the ruling of the Supreme Court, dated today and to which Lusa had access, is granted “conditional release to the prisoner Augusto da Silva Tomás, for the time remaining for the completion of the sentence of five years, three months and 22 days of imprisonment”.
The sentence of Augusto Tomás — sentenced by the Supreme Court in August 2019, to 14 years in a major prison sentence, as part of the trial of the well-known “case of the National Council of Chargers” (CNC), a sentence that was reduced by the plenary of the Supreme Court to seven years and one month in prison — ends on January 10, 2024, reads the ruling.
Until then, the former minister will have to “comply with the following obligations: to reside in this city of Luanda; full payment of the compensation to which he was sentenced, within the same period.
The defense of Augusto Tomás requested conditional release, because the former minister has served half of the sentence imposed on him, and the Directorate General of the Prison Service gave a favorable opinion.
The former Minister of Transport of Angola has been detained since September 21, 2018, so he reached the halfway point of his sentence on April 2 this year.
Augusto Tomás was the Minister of Transport of Angola between 2008 and 2017, and answered in court for the crimes of embezzlement, violation of the rules of execution of the budget plan in a continuous manner, abuse of power in a continuous manner and economic participation.
The former Minister of Transport was acquitted of the crimes of money laundering, criminal association and the crime of participation in a business, for lack of evidence.