The position of Isabel dos Santos, who insists that she is targeted in a "political" process, comes in response to statements by the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Grós, made on Wednesday in Portugal, in which he stated that the request for Isabel's detention dos Santos in Dubai has already been sent "more than a year ago" and is still waiting for it to be fulfilled.
"The treatment is manifestly unequal. If it weren't for a political process against the daughter of the former president of the Republic of Angola [José Eduardo dos Santos, who died on July 8, 2022), the Evaluation and Analysis Committee for the Increase of Efficiency of the Oil Sector, in 2016 led by Edeltrudes Costa, who ordered and decided to hire consultants for the restructuring of Sonangol, would be investigated, as well as the ministers who would also be investigated and arrested in a political case against a single person: Isabel dos Santos", says Isabel dos Santos in the statement.
In statements to journalists in Lisbon, the PGR regretted that the Arab authorities did not arrest Isabel dos Santos, but stressed that the most important thing is that the former President's daughter makes herself available to the authorities.
"The statements made by the Attorney General of the Republic of Angola confirm that I am not (nor have I ever been) in an uncertain or unknown part. In other words, it is false that the Angolan authorities cannot locate me. As he himself stated, he knows my address and my whereabouts for over a year and a half, confirming what I have always said: I am not a fugitive from justice", says Isabel dos Santos in the statement released on Friday.
"I am, and have always been, available to provide clarifications in the interest of the truth. For more than four years I participated and responded in all processes, in Angola, Portugal or any other jurisdiction, whenever I was requested", she adds.
Pitta Grós denied the allegations of a political process presented by Isabel dos Santos' defense.
"The best way for her [Isabel dos Santos] to be able to demonstrate that it is a political process is to make herself available to the Angolan justice bodies and then be able to show, as she says, with concrete evidence, that it is a political process and not that there is illicit acts, is the best way to do it", said the Prosecutor.
However, according to Isabel dos Santos, the processes have all been under judicial secrecy for more than four years, both in Portugal and Angola.
"It is not possible for me to know the reasons or suspicions that exist about me because I am denied access to the processes. Due to the 'secrecy of justice' I am also not allowed to provide clarifications or present contradictory evidence, which could eliminate suspicions and demonstrate my innocence and clarify the truth", responds the businesswoman.
"For more than four years I have had my bank accounts blocked, for more than four years I have been prevented from working, for more than four years I have been prevented from paying taxes or even traveling, for more than four years my shares in my companies are blocked; I haven't really been able to defend myself for more than four years, because everything is confidential", she insisted.
For Isabel dos Santos' defense, countries that respect the most basic Human Rights do not subject people to judicial secrecy, thus denying, for several years, the person's right to know the suspicions that fall upon them, to defend themselves and present themselves. evidence or clarification to discover the truth.
"Contrary to what the PGR of Angola claims, my case is clearly a political process and the reality of the facts demonstrates this. If it were not a political process, all the other members of the Board of Directors of Sonangol, who worked with me and decided to hire and pay consultants, they would be accused and have arrest orders, as would consulting companies such as BCG, McKinsey, PWC, Vieira de Almeida – Sociedade de Advogados, among others, who were working at Sonangol in 2016 and 2017 with more than 130 consultants at its headquarters in Luanda. They would also have arrest orders and bank accounts and companies blocked", argues Isabel dos Santos in the statement.
Previously considered the richest woman in Africa, Isabel dos Santos, who has lived outside Angola for several years, is accused of 12 crimes in a case that involves her management at the head of the state oil company Sonangol between 2016 and 2017.
In 2020, the International Investigative Journalism Consortium revealed more than 715 thousand files, under the name of Luanda Leaks, which detail alleged financial schemes by Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, now deceased, which would have allowed them to withdraw money from the public treasury Angolan income through tax havens.
