Luanda - The specialised commission of the National Assembly , Thursday in Luanda, unanimously approved the changes made to the Penal Code that aggravate the sentences passed for crimes committed in the performance of public service duties and offences against environment.
The diploma, approved by the AN on 22 July, returned to the agenda after the request of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, for the review of the final text, sent to Parliament, for the purposes of promulgation, because, in his opinion, it was out of step with the country's new paradigm.
The Head of State asked the National Assembly to review the specific articles related, fundamentally, to the crimes committed in the exercise of public functions.
Final vote
The final vote should take place at the first extraordinary plenary meeting of the 4th legislative session of the 4th AN legislature, scheduled for 4 November.
Among the amendments are the increase of the penalty for the crime of embezzlement to the minimum and maximum limits of five to 14 years in prison, if the value of the appropriate thing is considerably high, while for the crime whose value is not high, the penalty was increased by one. to 5 years in prison.
The new Code of Criminal Procedure contains 18 titles, 50 chapters, 37 sections, 13 sub-sections and 604 articles.
Regarding the changes proposed by the Head of State, the deputy attorney general of the Republic, Mota Liz, declared to the press that the tendency was to increase the minimum and maximum limits.
“If the crimes of embezzlement are committed by holders of political office, these penalties provided for in the respective rule are increased by one third, which means that they can rise much more than what is forecasted for three years, changing to five to 14 years in prison ”, he reinforced.
According to Mota Liz, the worsening perspective is one of general prevention, in order to prevent public officials and managers from engaging in crime.
In the context of crimes committed in the exercise or to the detriment of public functions, the worsening of the penal framework in paragraph 1 from one to 5 years in prison and the elimination of the corresponding alternative fine penalty was approved, given that the maximum of the framework exceeds the threshold maximum referral of 360 days of fine, defined in the general part of the Code, equivalent to three years.
Active corruption cases
In the chapter on active corruption of officials, deputies approved the increase for up to two years in prison, raising the maximum limit of the penal framework to up to three years.
In relation to the chapter on environmental crimes, parliamentarians approved the worsening of the penal framework of one to five years in prison and the elimination of the alternative fine, for exceeding the limit of 360 days of fine defined in the general part (comparable to three years in prison) ).
In paragraph 2 of article 282, the penalty was increased for 2 to 12 years, and the penalties provided for in paragraph 4, namely, for imprisonment up to 2 years or a fine of up to 240 days, in the first case and up to 5 years in the other .
As for the article on pollution, it was increased to the maximum limit of the penalty of paragraph 2 for 7 years, for the spread of diseases, pests, harmful animals or weeds increased to the maximum limit of the crime frame for 2 years or corresponding fine (240 days).
