According to lawyer Salvador Freire, 'Zeca Mutchima' and other MPPLT members involved in the process were sentenced to four years and six months in prison "just because they belonged to the movement, because the accusations of acts of rebellion fell to the ground".
"We, the defense, referred the appeal, bearing in mind that the crimes of which they had been accused, of rebellion and others, fell to the ground, and only because they belonged to the movement did the court understand that they should be condemned", he said in statements to the Lusa.
Salvador Freire expressed indignation at the position of the District Court of Chitato, seat of the municipality of Dundo, province of Lunda Norte, east of the country, for condemning the defendants "for the simple fact of belonging to the movement".
"We think this is incorrect, especially since the movement has existed since 2006 and has had contacts with institutions including the Presidency of the Republic", he stressed.
The Public Ministry and the court "concluded that the MPPLT is a movement that wanted the division of the country and that it fits as a criminal association", highlighted the lawyer.
The 25 defendants, including 'Zeca Mutchima', were accused of the crimes of association of criminals, armed rebellion, practice of outrage against the State and its symbols, but these accusations, recalled the lawyer, "all fell to the ground" during the sessions of trial which began on 28 January last.
'Zeca Mutchima', appointed by the authorities as the leader of the alleged "act of rebellion" that took place on 30 January 2021 in Cafunfo and which resulted in deaths and injuries, must await the appeal in prison, where he has been since 8 January. February 2021.
"The court understood that way", said Salvador Freire.
According to the police, about 300 people linked to the MPPLT, which for years has defended autonomy in that region rich in mineral resources, tried to invade, in the early hours of January 30, 2021, a police station in Cafunfo, with the forces of order and security reacting in its defense and fatally hit six people.
The police version is contradicted by the leaders of the MPPLT, political parties in the opposition and local civil society, who speak of more than a dozen deaths.
The District Court of Chitato acquitted the foreign defendants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, enrolled in the case, and "will be repatriated" to their country of origin.
"But, both these and the condemned, it has not been proven that they participated in the Cafunfo demonstration, they did not use any type of weapon and, naturally, they were not convicted because it was not proven", concluded the lawyer.
