The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) said this Wednesday, in a press release, that it was aware of the letter from the Supreme Court, which requests the National Assembly to provisionally suspend the mandate of deputy Nuno Álvaro Dala.
After hearing the aforementioned deputy, elected in 2022, the note states, he realized that he is a defendant in the case registered under no. 45/2023, in which he is accused of having committed crimes of slanderous reporting, insult and defamation in 2020, before of being elected deputy.
UNITA states that the complainant is Beato Manuel Paulo, who at the time was Deputy Attorney General of the Republic.
Dala, the party continues, "claims that he did not commit any crime and that he only exercised his constitutional right to report acts of corruption and abuse of power by public agents".
"He reported specific facts that constitute crimes of extortion, sabotage, embezzlement of money, invasion of homes and death threats to several citizens, attributable to the holder of a public position, the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic now complaining", states in note.
According to the UNITA parliamentary group, for which Nuno Álvaro Dala was elected independent deputy, he claims that the complaint is the result of investigative work that he carried out in 2020 and that he "has in his possession sufficient evidence to present to the court".
Under the terms of the Constitution, UNITA notes, with there now being an order of pronouncement, the plenary of the National Assembly must deliberate on the suspension of the deputy's mandate and withdrawal of immunities, for the purposes of continuing the process.
UNITA also says that it made its legal advice available to the deputy to, within the scope of the law, monitor the process and support the lawyers in the case in defending democratic legality.
Speaking to Lusa, Nuno Álvaro Dala, also a former activist and prisoner in the well-known "15+2" process under President José Eduardo dos Santos, said he was calm and classified the process as "political".
"I'm calm and it's not the first time I've gone through a process and yet another one that exposes the weaknesses of the justice system and indicates that the same group as always never tires of demonstrating extremely high talent and an extreme capacity to discredit the system of justice", he declared.
