The Manuel Rabelais trial continues to take place at the Supreme Court of Angola. In one of the interrogations, the former director of the defunct Office for the Revitalization of Institutional Communication and Marketing of the Administration (GRECIMA) insisted that he used the money to pay journalists and influential politicians abroad to whiten the image of the previous regime.
Angolan analyst Ilídio Manuel guarantees, in statements to DW Africa, that the list of beneficiaries also includes Angolan religious leaders who will have helped to whiten the image of Angola and the MPLA outside the country.
“I do not doubt that there were also elements linked to the different churches or religious denominations in this, since they made certain public statements that were in favor of the regime. Everything points out that they did not do it without any financial contribution ”, he explains.
Ilídio Manuel also says that the money from the presidency’s “blue bag” not only served to “wash the image” but also “demonized” some citizens critical of the previous government. “There was part of this money also to attack elements related to the radical opposition as well as independent journalists and union members”, he underlined.
Could the accused be released?
The jurist Manuel Pinheiro told DW Africa about the possibility, or not, that these people who performed such functions, in exchange for public money, could also be held responsible. “These people will also be heard in their own processes. How much you can do at this stage is extracting certificates, ”he explains.
Manuel Rabelais said in court that he received orders from former head of state José Eduardo dos Santos for the operations and that he asked for secrecy.
Asked if this means a cause for the exclusion of the defendant’s illegality, that is, if the defendant can be cleared of the accusations for hierarchical obedience, Manuel Pinheiro replies: he will have received guidance from President José Eduardo dos Santos, since José Eduardo dos Santos came out to say that he never had any confidences with the defendant. ”
In a letter sent to the court, former President José Eduardo dos Santos attributed to the then Minister of State and head of the Military House, Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias “Kopelipa”, the responsibility for the way in which the Institutional Communication Revitalization Office was managed and Management Marketing (GRECIMA).
But if it is proved that the defendant acted in love with the former head of state, Manuel Pinheiro believes that he will not be involved in this process either. “Once this case is already on trial, how much more can certificate be extracted and later instruct other processes”, he concludes.
