de São Vicente: time limit for pre-trial detention passed, but courts refuse to release him

Mr de São Vicente has been in pre-trial detention since September 22, 2020. After a controversial extension from 12 to 14 months, this pre-trial detention expired on November 22, 2021. In such circumstances, the law requires his immediate release, but that was not the case.

His lawyers reacted the next day, on November 23, by filing petitions with the judge of the 3rd section of the Common Crimes Division of the District Court and with the President of the Constitutional Court, who was then hearing the case. An habeas corpus request was also addressed to the President of the Luanda District Court. All of them preferred to ignore such illegality: they either did not respond to the dispatches within the legal time limits or simply let the case take its course without taking the required immediate action.

Mr de São Vicente is seriously ill and has already suffered from severe hypertension attacks that endanger not only his health but also his life. The court has ignored several appeals requesting his release due to his weakened health. 

The continued detention beyond the period of pre-trial detention is a very serious violation of fundamental guarantees and the most basic human rights. It calls into question the democratic rule of law proclaimed by the Constitution. 

While Mr de São Vicente has always proclaimed his innocence, the State has already appropriated his property. This violates another fundamental principle: the presumption of innocence.