The request was presented to the judges in the preliminary questions, António Nasso, defense assistant for six of the seven co-defendants, accused of the crimes of terrorist organization, acquisition or possession of explosive substances and criminal association, told Lusa, with the seventh accused of document forgery.
According to the defense, its constituents are collaborating in order to "uncover all the elements that were the basis of the intended project", emphasizing that, this Monday, the alleged leader of the group, during interrogation, said he felt "used" by those who "put him in this project, who would have helped or sponsored him".
António Nasso said that the first day of the trial "went smoothly", with only co-defendant João Gabriel Deussino, the alleged leader of the group, which also includes Domingos Muecália, Crescenciano Kapamba, Arão Rufino, Eduardo Kalala, Adelino Bacia, Francisco Nguli and Pedro João da Cunha, the latter accused of the crime of document forgery, being heard.
"The process is going well so far (...), it is progressing in the best possible way, without any controversy", highlighted Antonio Nasso, stating that he believes in the acquittal of the defendants.
In turn, the spokesperson for the Huambo District Court, Evaristo Samala, stressed that the session began with preliminary questions, followed by the reading of the indictment, the defense and the beginning of the interrogation of the first defendant, with the nine declarants listed in the case having been dismissed, and it is expected that they will begin to be heard on Wednesday.
"It was a very productive day, because it is the starting day, normally a little turbulent, as the court is surprised by some requests made by the parties, I refer to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the defenses", said Evaristo Samala in statements to the Public Television of Angola (TPA), adding that the judges answered the previous questions posed.
According to Evaristo Samala, the court, as well as the Public Prosecutor's Office, decided to "assess the testimony of the collaborating defendant, to see if the provisions" of the law that allows the establishment of the collaborating defendant regime are complied with.
The defendants' actions were aimed, according to the prosecution, at attacking strategic targets, such as the Presidency of the Republic, the Luanda refinery and the US embassy during Joe Biden's visit, and ten explosives were seized.
In January of this year, authorities announced the dismantling and arrest of the group led by João Gabriel Deussinho, 34, self-proclaimed president of the revolutionary movement Frente Unida de Reedificação da Ordem Africana (FUROA), which allegedly intended to overthrow the government and establish a new regime.
According to the Criminal Investigation Service, the organization, with international links, which emerged in 2017 in the province of Huambo, began to be monitored in October and intended to carry out terrorist actions to destabilize the country's political and social order, creating panic during the official visit of former US President Joe Biden to Angola, in December 2024.
