The remains were handed over to the family, according to Angop, at the hands of the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, one of the individuals present at the ceremony, which took place at the Army Headquarters.
The Minister of the Interior, Eugénio Laborinho, also attended the event, which was presided over by Marcy Lopes, Minister of Justice and Human Rights.
On the occasion, Laborinho reiterated the Government's commitment "to locating, determining and delivering the remains of the victims of the '27th of May' political conflicts to their families and loved ones", according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, to which the VerAngola had access.
Quoted in the note, the Interior Minister said that "these results were obtained with the use of modern means and equipment acquired by the Angolan Executive, as part of the modernization and equipping of the SIC Central Criminalistics Laboratory".
He said they were "convinced that this exercise" will "close a chapter of the sad events of that time", as well as bring peace "to the souls of the victims" and comfort to the families.
"We are convinced that this exercise will certainly close a chapter of the sad events of that time, give peace to the souls of the victims, comfort the bereaved families and contribute to the ongoing process of national reconciliation," he said.
In turn, Marcy Lopes, also coordinator of CIVICOP, said that "to achieve this goal, the commission and its internal bodies have been tirelessly involved in difficult operations to locate and exhume the mortal remains" of their compatriots, "with the purpose to return them to their families for a proper funeral", the statement reads.
The minister also "asked for patience" as it is a "sensitive process of high responsibility and complexity".
General 'Bakalof's' daughter, Sónia Francisco, also spoke at the ceremony. According to the note, at the time, she said that "the Government's gesture is commendable, because it warms her heart to know, definitively, that her father rests in eternity."
"We have already gone through a very complicated period. Many times others talked about their living parents, and we had to talk about him being dead or missing. As a daughter, I had no idea where my father's body was," she said.
Quoted by Angop, she said that sometimes people appeared to claim that her father was alive and others joked by sending anonymous letters saying that they had seen him in other countries. "They played with my family, and a lot of people took advantage of that," she said.
"With this act, we already feel better, especially my younger sister, because when my father was arrested she only had a month to live, and today she is 46 years old", she added, quoted by Angop.
According to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the burial of General 'Bakalof's remains is scheduled for this Friday, "with the funeral procession leaving from the main army barracks to the Santa Ana Cemetery".
