"The decision to freeze all of Isabel dos Santos' assets in Portugal is an important step towards justice," said Karina Carvalho, executive director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Transparency International in Portugal.
However, she added that "it remains unclear why the Portuguese authorities have not complied with the requests for judicial cooperation" made by the Angolan authorities.
"Not only does it seem there is a lack of political will in Portugal to actively promote the return of stolen money to the people to whom it belongs, but the judicial system seems ill-prepared to deal with money laundering, particularly in relation to the recovery of stolen assets," Karina Carvalho said in a statement sent to Lusa.
In February, Portuguese judicial authorities ordered the freezing of Isabel dos Santos' bank accounts following a request by Angolan counterparts "to help the country recover more than US$2 billion in stolen assets," Transparency International recalled.
"This new decision extends to several properties and shares in companies that Isabel dos Santos allegedly owns in Portugal, and will help ensure that she does not profit from the sale of the shares in the Eurobic bank, for example," the NGO noted.
