Mozambique and Portugal evaluate EUTM-MOZ
File photo: Rádio Moçambique
Privinvest suggested on Wednesday that Mozambique’s President, Filipe Nyusi, only agreed to be summoned in connection with the “hidden debts” case in British justice so that he could attend the coronation of King Charles III in London.
“One of the positive effects of the coronation was the fact that, shortly before the coronation, a vacancy suddenly appeared in the [Mozambican] president’s diary, and he agreed to be summoned, and then came to London for the coronation,” the naval group’s lawyer, Duncan Matthews, said today.
The lawyer was speaking on the first day of hearings at the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in London on the immunity of the head of state in the Mozambique debt case, which has been tried and is awaiting judgement from the Commercial Court.
Privinvest claims that it notified Nyusi on 19 October 2021, but that the President only replied on 5 May 2023, the day before the British monarch’s coronation ceremony.
“There is no evidence that he didn’t receive the notification of the documents,” said Matthews, noting that “it would be very strange if he hadn’t, because he is the country’s president who has been following this case for the last three months.”
Nyusi was made a “fourth party” in the Commercial Court case, initiated by Mozambique’s public prosecutor to contest debts relating to the purchase of maritime security boats, tuna fishing boats and other equipment.
The Mozambican country believes that the financial guarantees given by the then minister of finance, Manuel Chang, were obtained through the corruption of senior state officials by Privinvest, from which it claims US$3.1 billion (€2.9 million at the current exchange rate) to cover costs and other financial commitments arising from the debts assumed.
The naval group denies the accusations, but at the same time has tried to associate Nyusi with the case, as co-responsible or a party to the alleged corruption, claiming that he should contribute to the compensation if Mozambique wins the case.
In its allegations, Privinvest revealed that it paid US$10 million (€9.3 million) to Frelimo, the ruling party, in 2014, with the aim of financing Nyusi’s campaign for the presidency.
Before being elected to his first term in 2015, Nyusi was defence minister (2008-2014), during which time the public contracts with Privinvest were negotiated.
The Mozambican president invoked diplomatic immunity to refuse involvement in the case before the London Commercial Court, a status that was initially accepted by the High Court, but against whose decision Privinvest decided to appeal.
Nyusi’s lawyer argued yesterday that the notification made in 2021 is not valid, because the documents were left at the gate of the Ponta Vermelha Palace, the president’s official residence, and did not follow the procedures of going through a Mozambican court, which only happened on 14 April 2023.
Rodney Dixon emphasised that, in any case, international law guarantees immunity while a head of state is in office.
“This is a statute of absolute personal immunity, which has no exceptions, which subsists for as long as he is in office,” he emphasised.
The decision on this appeal will only be known later, on a date yet to be determined.
The London Commercial Court has also yet to hand down its judgement on the three-month trial, which concluded last December, on the case of Mozambique’s “hidden debts”.
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