The attorney general, who was speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on the consolidation of the rule of law in the PALOP and East Timor, which takes place this Tuesday in Luanda, answered a question from a journalist who questioned Pitta Grós about criticism from some sectors of civil society and the Angolan opposition regarding the alleged selectivity of the fight against corruption, which has targeted family members and close collaborators of former President José Eduardo dos Santos.
In addition to rejecting selectivity, stressing that only the corrupt are targeted, Pitta Grós said that the feeling of impunity that previously existed in Angola does not exist, including in the practices of public managers, who now have "another attitude".
Asked by Lusa about the delay in investigations related to businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the former President, who is the target of criminal and civil proceedings in Angola, he added that there are issues related to international cooperation that require time.
"It is necessary to take steps and we are dependent on responses from abroad, we have been putting some pressure on these responses to be given as quickly as possible, but we cannot do more, we have to respect the sovereignty of States, respect their institutions and , therefore, we can only wait. But there was no slowdown, the processes continue", guaranteed Pitta Grós, reaffirming that the processes are slow because they depend "a lot on international cooperation".
As for the recovered assets, estimated at more than US$5 billion, they have been sent, in monetary values, to an account of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), while the patrimonial values have been handed over to either the Justice Coffer or to ministerial departments .
The law attributes 10 percent of the amounts recovered to the Attorney General's Office, as a recovery body, which serve to reinforce its capacity and improve working conditions, but so far the institution has not benefited. "We are still to see how we are going to make the operationalization", he indicated.
The international conference, which brings together experts and senior officials from the judiciary, as well as political leaders from Portugal and from Portuguese-speaking African Countries and East Timor, marked the final phase of the Project to Support the Consolidation of the Rule of Law (PACED), financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Camões Institute.
Helder Pitta Grós underlined that the beginning of PACED was for Angola "an awakening" to the need for the country to prepare to face a type of crime for which there was almost no training.
"It served for this awakening, it served for us to take the first steps and then continue to consolidate this training", highlighted the same person in charge.
