The judge in the main case of the hidden debts in Mozambique, Efigénio Baptista, postponed the reading of the sentence to November 30, justifying his decision with the “complexity” of the case.
“Given the special complexity of the cause, the volume of the case of more than 30,000 pages and the overload of work with the arrests, embargoes and appeals, the date for the reading of the sentence will be postponed,” says an order signed by the judge of the case to which Lusa had access today, July 18.
The reading of the sentence of the trial, which began on August 23, 2021, was scheduled for August 1, but the judge of the case had already warned of the possibility of postponing the date.
The case involves 19 defendants accused by the Mozambican justice system of having formed a “gang” and embezzled $2.7 billion from the Mozambican state that had been raised from international banks through guarantees provided by the government.
In its closing arguments, the prosecution asked the court for the maximum penalty for eight of the 19 defendants, close to the maximum penalty for ten defendants, and the acquittal of only one defendant.
The prosecution also asked the court to order the defendants to pay damages of $2.7 billion, corresponding to the total hidden debts, plus interest of $850.5 billion calculated until 2019.
The loans worth around 2.3 billion euros were secretly guaranteed by the government of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), led at the time by Armando Guebuza, without the knowledge of Parliament or the Administrative Court.
Lusa
