Businesswoman Isabel dos Santos was summoned to be heard but preferred not to answer the Angolan authorities’ questions, an official source said, adding that the case involving her management of Sonangol could begin to be tried in March 2024.
Deputy Attorney General Pedro Mendes de Carvalho was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on financial investigations and money laundering taking place this week in Luanda.
“According to the legal deadlines, the case could go to trial in two or three months, but then it has all the formalities that have to be obeyed,” if contradictory instruction is requested, a phase of the process in which both the defense and the prosecution can intervene and in which the defendants can present arguments and evidence.
Only then will the case be sent back to court with a decision to indict, which means it will go to trial, or a decision to close the case.
Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos and who has been living outside Angola for several years, was summoned to be heard, but refused to make a statement.
“She was notified for this purpose, she had the opportunity to defend herself, she has this step in the process,” Pedro Mendes de Carvalho told reporters, stressing that the defendant is free to present [her version] or not, and can answer questions or not.
The Angolan businesswoman is accused of 12 crimes in a case involving her management of the state oil company Sonangol between 2016 and 2017.
The national director of Investigation and Criminal Action and national director of Prevention and Combating Corruption of the PGR also pointed out that the Angolan authorities maintain good institutional relations with their counterparts, with whom they have been cooperating in judicial matters.