Earlier this month, four of the most influential organizations advocating for human rights in Angola wrote a letter of complaint to the offices of the Attorney General in Angola and its former colonial power Portugal.
In their letter, Maos Livres, Omunga, Pro Bono Angola and Uyele expressed concern that the assets of former presidential daughter Isabel dos Santos — seized in 2020 following the so-called "Luanda Leaks" expose by the New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) — have still not been returned to Angola.
The ICIJ published more than 715,000 files allegedly showing conflicts of interest and nepotism within Angola's former presidential family.
The quartet suspect that Isabel dos Santos may have "transferred large sums of money owed to the Angolan state" to Dubai, where she resides, or to other tax havens.
The signatories of the letter demanded action in the case.
"For four years, we have been waiting for the stolen money to be transferred back to Angola so that it can benefit the most needy Angolans," said one of the signatories, Gulherme Neves, chairman of the human rights organization Associacao Maos Livres (Free Hands Association) in an interview with DW.
Neves does not understand what is preventing the Angolan and Portuguese authorities from transferring the seized assets back to Angola.
"We demand that both Attorney Generals publicly explain where the problem lies," Neves added.
Almost five years after the Luanda Leaks scandal, no legal proceedings have been initiated........