The proposal, which had its final vote this Thursday, after being voted on in June as a whole and then downgraded to specialty, provides for penalties of between three and 25 years in prison, depending on the violence of the acts and the nature of the good or service subject to criminal action.
In its declaration of vote, the UNITA parliamentary group pointed out hidden intentions in article 19, which considers that the crime will be aggravated if it is committed with the authorship or complicity of political office holders.
"It hides the intention of persecuting opposition political parties and even civic organizations, it aims to inhibit peaceful demonstrations, constitutionally enshrined, allowing the regime to infiltrate its agents to create confusion and (...) arrest their leaders, accusing them after committing acts of vandalism", he adds.
For UNITA, which recognizes the need for the law in view of the increase in acts damaging public goods and services, it is, however, out of adjustment, with higher maximum penalties than those applicable to the crime of embezzlement (corruption) and the crime of rape of minors.
"How can we understand, for example, that someone who breaks the glass of a public building, or a school, is sentenced to 15 years in prison, but someone who steals money that was intended to build one, two or more public buildings, or schools, is he sentenced in just 8 years?", asks the opposition party.
Finally, UNITA understands that the solution to combat vandalism is not to increase the penalties, but rather to combat the causes, "because the increase in these crimes and others is a consequence of the degradation of social conditions resulting from the mismanagement of national wealth".
This Thursday, the National Assembly also held a final global vote on the Proposed Law on Gaming Activity, with no votes against.
This law aims to reinforce the legal framework for the regulation and supervision of economic operators involved in this sector.
