Pedro Lussati, who belonged to the Security House of the President of the Republic, was convicted of several crimes, including embezzlement, for adulterating and inflating payrolls.
Speaking to Lusa, Francisco Muteka said that the decision of the Court of Appeal, which reduces the sentence from 14 to 12 years, is an "almost copy" of the first instance conviction, the Court of the District of Luanda.
"I'm not satisfied," he said, adding that there were no substantial changes to the evidence and other documents attached to the file.
"There are relevant facts that the major said before the court and that were not taken into account", he indicated, pointing to allegedly falsified documents.
The lawyer also regretted that despite the "completely exhausted" terms of preventive detention, Lussati and a dozen more defendants are still being held, speaking of "irregularities" and violation of the rules of criminal procedure and the rule of law.
Francisco Muteka, who will appeal to the Supreme Court – the last instance of appeal, hopes that this judicial body "reviews the decisions in which the defense understands that the lower court did not comply with the precepts that guide a fair decision".
Pedro Lussati was sentenced in November last year to 14 years in prison and 100 days of fine, in legal terms, for the crimes of continuous embezzlement, fraud in the transport of currency abroad and money laundering.
Lussati was sentenced to nine years in prison for the crime of continuous embezzlement, four years in prison for fraud in the transportation or transfer of currency abroad and four years in prison for the crime of continuous money laundering.
Pedro Lussati, assigned to the Security House of the President of the Republic, was arrested in possession of millions of euros, kwanzas and dollars.
The FAA major was acquitted of the crimes of receiving undue advantage, economic participation in business, abuse of power, illicit introduction of foreign currency into the country, prohibition of payment in cash and illegal currency trading due to "insufficient evidence".
The case involved 49 defendants, including senior military and civilian officials, allegedly involved in the embezzlement of millions of dollars through a fraudulent scheme to pay inflated wages to "ghost" employees in units assigned to the President's Security House.
