In a press release, the widow and three children of António Agostinho Neto repudiated the association of the name of their relative with lawsuits under investigation against Carlos Manuel de São Vicente, husband of the first daughter of the former Angolan head of state.
The document, cited by Angop, also signed by the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Foundation, says that the first President of Angola died in September 1979, six years before the wedding of his first daughter, in 1985, with Carlos Manuel de São Vicente and , in this sense, he considers, "it is absurd to associate his name with legal proceedings under investigation".
"President Agostinho Neto, the MPLA and his Government, from 1975 to 1979, had never agreed with corruption in Angola", the statement emphasizes, stressing that he "had a decent, honest and transparent presidency and does not attribute business, grants, licenses or privileges to your children ".
For the family, whatever the circumstances of the ongoing judicial process "it is absolutely condemnable" that the name of President António Agostinho Neto is invoked.
"We do not want nor should we replace ourselves with justice. But we have a duty to defend our good name, dignity and honor. In our family, in our Foundation, nobody is corrupt", the document highlights.
In this regard, national and international media, as well as Angolan and Swiss authorities, were asked to refrain from involving President Agostinho Neto in legal proceedings.
The note emphasizes that "no one should get ahead of the courts, drawing up sentences in the form of news without facts, evidence, rigor, respect for the secrecy of justice and bank secrecy", calling for respect for the rights of personality and of private and intimate life .
This week, the name of the first President's son-in-law appeared in several news stories on suspicion of money laundering, according to a blog that tracks legal issues in Switzerland.
According to the Swiss judicial blog Gotham City, which cites the order of the Swiss Public Ministry, there were seven frozen accounts of former AAA Seguros president Carlos Manuel de São Vicente, from which the funds of six have already been released, if the account that has about 900 million dollars is frozen.
