"Yes, it is indeed a serious matter. That is precisely why this commission was created, because it was realized that there was a phenomenon of excessive pretrial detention in the country, and one of the ways to mitigate it is precisely the creation of a working group," Alves Renné, secretary of the Ad-Hoc Commission for the Analysis of Excessive Pretrial Detention, told journalists.

Created in December 2020, the Commission presided over by the presiding judge of the Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber, Daniel Modesto Geraldes, today took stock of the work carried out in 2023 and defined the work strategy for 2024.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting held in Luanda, Alves Renné explained that the commission technically processes the data provided by the prison service and, according to the nature or phase in which they are, purifies them on a case-by-case basis.

The actions developed by the commission have contributed to the reduction of the numbers presented, he said, although without giving details, as a result of the visits that each member of the commission makes to the prison services.

"Because the defendants claim to be in excessive pretrial detention, or for some other reason feel they are in excessive pretrial detention, but technically we are verifying that sometimes it is other cases, they are defendants who have several cases pending," he justified.

Asked about the results of the work that the commission has been carrying out since 2020, the official noted that at the level of the Angolan prison service there are no longer any cases of defendants deprived of their liberty after serving their sentence.

"We can say with some certainty that these cases no longer exist," he assured.

Regarding the cases specifically of excessive pretrial detention, "we can say that the assessment is extremely positive, not only because of the existence of the commission, which does this technical work of purifying the data, but also because of the impact that this causes on the prisoners themselves," concluded Alves Renné.

The secretary of the Ad-Hoc Commission said that it works to prevent excessive pretrial detention in the country, "a distortion of the system", situations that occur "when for some reason, and these are varied, the defendants who should remain within the limit established by law end up staying longer".

The data is brought to the commission by the prison service, which is the body that holds the defendants in its custody for the fulfillment of precautionary measures, data "then technically processed by the commission which, according to the nature or phase in which the process is, verifies case by case to purify", he explained.

The commission includes representatives from the Attorney General's Office, the Angolan Bar Association, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Ombudsman and the Prison Services.

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