The investigation into the Attorney General of the Republic of Angola, João Maria de Sousa, was in fact shelved in July, a full two months before the controversial apology from Portugal’s Foreign Minister Rui Machete. Had this been known, Portugal and Angola would not now be in a conflict that may yet hurt Portugal’s trade with the oil-rich African country.
Portugal decided to inform Angola that there was no case to answer in a communication sent out this month by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP) as agreed by the Attorney General 's Office in Lisbon.
"The Attorney General's Office confirms the filing of the possible case involving João Maria Moreira de Sousa," according to a statement sent to newsrooms today, adding that the procedure "was opened in December 2011 following a bank communication made to the Central Department investigation and Prosecution" and that after steps were taken to collect the necessary information, the prosecutor considered the once dubious financial transaction was legitimate.
The decision to close the case came more than three months before the controversial interview with Rui Machete on Radio Angola in September in which the Foreign Minister apologised. This was widely interpreted by the Portugal's opposition parties and media as an apology for the investigation by Portugal of officials in Angola.
Machete maintains that his apology was for the violation of the laws of secrecy that were breached, a reason that not may believed at the time.
Earlier this year headlines were printed in Portugal’s press along the lines of ‘Angola is being investigated in Portugal for suspected tax fraud and money laundering.’
A suspicious transfer of funds between the two countries had been picked up by Portugal’s banking system regulators.
The subsequent investigation and successive lapses in confidentiality underpinned the decision by Angola to halt the strengthening of its relations with Portugal. The bilateral summit scheduled for February 2014 may still be delayed unless Angola’s president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, simmers down. He was incensed by Portugal’s behaviour over the affair and decided that as a lesson to Angola’s former colonial masters that he would boost trade relations with other countries including Brazil and South Africa, instead of with Portugal which is keen to export goods, skills and know-how.
Portugal’s prime minister fumbled initial diplomacy with Angola provoking the president's anger, but relations now have a chance of getting back on an even keel as ‘delays in the paperwork’ can safely be blamed.
