According to lawyer Francisco Muteka, representative of Luther Campos, arrested in January 2022, following the taxi drivers' strike in Luanda, the defense, which asked this Friday for the acquittal of its client, is calm and serene regarding the outcome of the process. .
"Today we had another hearing for discussion and judgment, naturally and after the production of evidence phase, today were the allegations and the defense, based on the allegations, asked for the acquittal of the defendant Luther Campos for the fact that it was not proven, in terms of production of evidence, facts that are imputed to the defendant", said the lawyer to Lusa.
For the lawyer, the court should only respect the principle of 'in dúbio pro reo' (in doubt for the accused) and in the end acquit the accused of all the crimes he has been accused of.
Luther Campos, also considered a "political prisoner", is being tried, since December 2022, in the 4th section of the District Court of Luanda also for the crime of resistance against an official.
The reading of the sentence of this trial is scheduled for the 17th of Devereiro and the defense is "calm and serene", as Francisco Muteka said.
"Of course, the defendant may be acquitted of the crimes, and we do not have a guarantee of the restitution of his freedom due to the fact that the terms of preventive detention have expired and the defense's request was granted by the judge", argued the lawyer.
Muteka criticized, last January, the "excessive" preventive detention of Luther Campos, "for more than 12 months without conviction in the first instance".
"It means that the judge should restore freedom to the accused and give him the possibility to defend himself in freedom, because preventive detention is not the rule, but the exception and, therefore, freedom is the rule", he pointed out at the time.
The arrest of Luther Campos and activist Gilson da Silva Moreira, both considered "political prisoners", has sparked protests from civil society, with marches calling for their release.
