"It's one thing to have illicit access by someone, it's quite another for the authorities, when they see documents that are in the public domain, that are known to them, that reveal organised crime, to disregard that and justify their inaction with illegitimate access," Ana Gomes said.
The former MEP, who was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Lisbon, said: "It is unbearable and I would say that it is in fact criminal behaviour".
Isabel dos Santos' husband accused Rui Pinto on Sunday of being the "armed arm of the plot" of the 'Luanda Leaks' journalistic investigation, adding that João Lourenço and Manuel Vicente, former vice-president, are also part of the conspiracy.
"What I know is that the engineer [Isabel dos Santos] said, until yesterday, that it was the Angolan authorities [that were organizing a plot] and even accused the Angolan secret services of being behind the revelation of documents," recalled Ana Gomes.
The former Socialist MEP added that "now there is a new version": "Undoubtedly, as she said only yesterday, the source was not the Angolan authorities. We know that there is a platform for the fight against corruption in Africa that has provided this documentation to the consortium of investigative journalists. I think that at all times we will know who the source is'.
Ana Gomes said she was not yet surprised that there had been no consequences, particularly at the Bank of Portugal, following the accusations.
She said "the usual thing here in Portugal is to let the vacancy pass and do nothing", but said that "institutions, companies, the Portuguese" are "disqualified" if they "continue to allow themselves to be instrumentalised and facilitate the organised crime that the kleptocracy of the Saints supposes".
There must be "an ethical and moral upheaval that shakes the path and seeks to hold accountable those who are responsible and who cannot go unpunished, because what is at stake are real crimes not only committed against the Angolan people and the Angolan state, but also against the Portuguese people," he stressed.
"Many of the crimes are committed here in Portugal with consequences for Portugal, specifically in terms of the qualified tax fraud that money laundering entails," explained Ana Gomes.
The former MEP criticised that "the parties that were in power were all colluding" with this "legitimisation, even by the way the so-called 'irritant' was treated, in a way that was very contrary to the national interest", recalling that it was a case of corruption involving Manuel Vicente and an allegedly corrupt Portuguese magistrate.
"We have supervisors and regulators who didn't supervise, who didn't regulate," he said.
Ana Gomes pointed that "the Bank of Portugal was tired of knowing what was going on and chose not to act".
"The authorities, including the tax authorities, chose not to act. The judicial authorities, I have said several times since Operation Hurricane, there was all the data to act (...) and yet there was a political choice that is completely incompatible with the proclaimed intentions of raising the relationship with Angola to the level of strategic partnership and fraternity and friendship," she concluded.
