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Inocêncio de Matos process is stopped because there is no will to do justice, says lawyer

The lawyer for the family of Inocêncio de Matos, a student killed in a demonstration in Luanda two years ago, says that “there is no desire” to investigate the circumstances of the death and hold the culprits accountable, but guarantees that he will not give up.

: Ampe Rogério/Lusa
Ampe Rogério/Lusa  

Zola Bambi, responsible for the two lawsuits brought by the young man's family, of a civil and criminal nature, is also president of the Observatory for Social Cohesion and Justice, an organization dedicated to the defense of human rights, and says that "it is not normal to way justice is working".

The criminal process, she underlined, in an interview with the Lusa agency, "is what worries me most" and "compromises the justice system in Angola".

For Zola Bambi, there is a "lack of will" on the part of the institutions, namely the Attorney General's Office, whose fundamental mission is to safeguard the interests of citizens and monitor legality, as well as the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), which must carry out the instruction of the process.

"These two institutions are doing nothing or little to ensure that there is a normal course", he criticized, stressing that the young man's death "was caused, as everyone knows, by an excess of the defense and security forces".

Inocêncio de Matos died on November 11, 2020, while participating in a demonstration and was allegedly hit by a bullet, despite the official version denying the use of live ammunition by the police and pointing to a wound due to "blunt object".

Zola Bambi recalled that the lawyers requested a second independent autopsy of the body (because there were doubts about the first examination, in which a photographer was not allowed to enter) to make sure that the death was caused by elements of the National Police.

"Without going into details, there was a hole in the skull and we can imagine what element it was caused by," he said, urging the justice system "to do the job properly" to get to the truth of events and find those responsible.

"The small number of those who participated gives us a circle of suspects. The police carried out an investigation, they know very well that among these names is the person who carried out this act. We believe that the police know. to hand over the person who committed [the crime]", the lawyer told Lusa.

He also stressed that it is not only the material perpetrator of the crime that is at stake, but also the moral one, that is, the police leadership that "acted improperly and disproportionately, disregarding the constitutional right to demonstrate when there were no acts of violence or dangers to the police".

The lawyer also pointed out several judicial vicissitudes, from changes in the numbers of the case, which "has already been in several places", to the assignment of new instructors, to "difficult or prevent the monitoring of the process".

"There is a lack of will to clarify the death", he insisted, adding that seven complaints had already been made.

"The process has not yet left the preparatory instruction phase, which is the first of a process, two years later, when it would be time for us to be in the judicial phase", he was indignant.

During this period, some eyewitnesses and family members were called, but "at the insistence of the lawyers", said Zola Bambi, stressing the importance of listening to the clinical staff who declared to the Angolan public television channel TPA that the young man arrived alive and was operated on, having died after this intervention, contrary to the version of other protesters, according to which Inocêncio died immediately.

"It is contrary to what we saw, to the signs of the body that we found in the morgue, and we have people willing to declare this", said the lawyer, denouncing that "mounts" were made to simulate that the young man was alive.

"There was a death" and clarification is needed, reinforced Zola Bambi, adding that "it is an obligation of the justice organs to clarify the event" and that "the image of justice is at stake" in Angola.

"If the intention is to file by inertia, the family and we, who are constituted as assistants, will take the process until there is a judgment. This is what both the family and society expect", he stressed.

Despite not believing in the Angolan justice system, "depending on a political party and a regime that does not want transparency", Zola Bambi is confident that justice will be done and the country's laws are respected, asking that those responsible be held accountable. perpetrators of the crime and the Angolan State, which did not protect Inocêncio's life, and that the family be compensated for his loss.

The Lusa agency referred questions to the Attorney General's Office about the steps taken and the causes of the delay in the process, but did not receive any response.

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