(Bloomberg) — Angolan President Joao Lourenco pardoned 51 prisoners, including the son of his predecessor who was convicted to five years in jail for his alleged role in siphoning $500 million from the country.
Jose Filomeno dos Santos, also known as Zenu, is a former head of Angola’s sovereign wealth fund and the first member of ex-President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ family to be sentenced to jail in 2020 as part of an anti-corruption campaign led by Lourenco.
His half-sister, Isabel, has been in self exile in Dubai after Angolan authorities accused her of causing more than $5 billion in losses to the country during her father’s 38-year rule.
This act of clemency took into account “the good behavior that was shown and the absence of social danger,” according to a presidential decree published late on Wednesday. Filomeno dos Santos and Isabel have both denied any wrongdoing.
Among others pardoned is Ana da Silva Miguel, a TikToker also known as Neth Nahara, who was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the president, Lourenco. Lourenco also pardoned several political activists that were serving time in jail.
Amnesty International had an ongoing campaign for the release of the 32-year-old Silva Miguel and others it says were arbitrarily detained in Angola. Lourenco said earlier this week that the presidential pardons were part of the celebrations to mark 50 years of Angola’s independence, Christmas and the New Year.
(Adds with details about Zenu in second paragraph, context about the pardon in final paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
#Angola #Leader #Pardons #Including #Dos #Santos #Son #TikToker
