“It is the end of a very long legal process,” judge André Thomashausen said of Manuel Chang’s extradition to the United States. The former Mozambican minister is involved in the case of hidden debts.
The Mozambique Attorney General’s Office (PGR) admitted this Thursday that the former Finance Minister, Manuel Chang, will be extradited to the US, in the framework of the case of hidden debts, “without further appeal.”
The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) of South Africa rejected this Wednesday, for the second time in 12 months, a new appeal by the PGR against the extradition of former minister Manuel Chang to the US.
In a press release, that Mozambican judicial entity admits that, in practice, South African court decision means ex-ruler will be handed over to US justicethat intends to try him for his alleged involvement in the case of the undeclared debts contracted by the government of the then Mozambican president Armando Guebuza.
Maputo loses a new appeal before the South African courts against the extradition of Manuel Chang to the US
On Wednesday, the South African Constitutional Court “ordered the extradition of Manuel Chang to the United States of America, a decision taken as a last resort, with no further appeal,” the prosecutor’s note said.
“This decision has negative implications for the ongoing processes in Mozambique and abroad. Mozambique continues to understand that its fundamentals [de pedido de repatriamento de Manuel Chang] They are valid and, unfortunately, at no time were they considered by the South African courts,” the text continues.
For the Mozambican PGR, the only jurisdiction to try Manuel Chang is the Mozambican one, because that is where the events occurred and the victims are the State and the Mozambican people.
“We will continue with the process against Manuel Chang until its conclusion. using all available accountability mechanisms“, the statement advances. The PGR indicates that the former Minister of Finance is indicted and has already been ruled by the Court of Justice of the city of Maputo, in the framework of an autonomous process on undeclared debts.
On Tuesday, the South African jurist André Thomashausen told Lusa that the Constitutional Court had ruled Mozambique’s “end of appeals” against the extradition of its former Finance Minister Manuel Chang to the United States of America (USA).
Mozambique: extradition of Manuel Chang pending judicial decision
“It’s the end of a court case very extensive that has lasted for more than four years of appeals against the extradition of Manuel Chang”, advanced the jurist and retired academic from the University of South Africa, specialist in International and Comparative Law.
At the age of 63, Manuel Chang was arrested on December 29, 2018 at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg while en route to Dubai, based on an international arrest warrant issued by the US on December 27. December. for his alleged involvement in the so-called process of hidden debts of 2,700 million dollars (2,500 million euros) secretly recruited in the neighboring Lusophone country.
Source: Observadora
