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Mozambique: State protests South Africa delay in extradition of ex-finance minister
6:55 CAT | 28 Apr 2021
File photo: Lusa
The Mozambican state has protested to the government of South Africa over the “delay” in the decision on the extradition of former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, the Mozambican Attorney General, Beatriz Buchili said on Wednesday in parliament.
“We have expressed our concern over the delay in the decision on the situation of Manuel Chang conditioned by a political-administrative decision, with prejudice to the processing of judicial proceedings in Mozambique,” Buchili said.
The former minister has been detained in South Africa for over two years, the Attorney General’s Office said that the South African authorities’ indecision regarding Manuel Chang’s extradition hurt “the rights, freedoms and guarantees of the accused himself.
The South African justice system has to decide between a request from the Mozambican authorities and another from US justice regarding the extradition of Manuel Chang for his role in the so-called hidden debts.
Today in parliament, the attorney general revealed that on 29 December 2020, Mozambique sent a letter to the South African Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, “in view of the lack of decision regarding the various requests [for extradition] presented by Mozambique.”
“We also reiterated the need for the decision to extradite the defendant Manuel Chang to Mozambique, the only country with jurisdiction over the case, as the legal requirements for this are met,” Beatriz Buchili said.
The Attorney General’s Office said that the former finance minister is a key factor for the continuation of the hidden debts case in which he is a defendant, but also in the main lawsuit filed as part of that case.
In addition to the case in which Manuel Chang is a defendant, the Mozambican justice system has opened another case in which the international bankers accused of involvement in the scandal are defendants.
In relation to the main case, Buchili said that the only thing that remains to be done is to set a date for the trial of the 18 defendants who have been charged, of which seven are in custody and 11 are free.
The hidden debts of the Mozambican state were contracted in 2013 and 2014, during the presidency of Armando Guebuza, without the consent of parliament and other entities, from Credit Suisse and Russian bank VTB, worth US$2.2 billion (1.8 million euros at the current exchange rate).
The loans were for maritime projects of public companies Ematum, ProIndicus and MAM, provided by the Privinvest group, but which never materialised.
In addition to the proceedings taking place in Mozambique, the case is also the target of US justice, which is seeking to try Manuel Chang.
Source: Lusa
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