A British judge has ordered the Mozambican government to hand over the documents requested by the High Court in London at the risk of invalidating a case brought by the Mozambican state against the bank Credit Suisse and the shipbuilding company Privinvest, in which Maputo is seeking to cancel part of the more than 2.7 billion dollars of debt contracted between 2013 and 2014 by public companies in what is known as the "hidden debts" case.

The scandal, which damaged the state by more than two billion dollars, has triggered a series of lawsuits from Maputo to Washington, via Pretoria and London, but this case in the United Kingdom could lead to Mozambique being compensated.

Quoted by Reuters and VOA, Judge Robin Knowles told the High Court in London last Friday that Mozambique had failed in its duty to disclose documents, which he called a "really serious matter", and ordered access to relevant documents from entities such as the State Information and Security Service (SISE) and the Office of the President of the Republic of Mozambique.

"If I need to exercise my powers of annulment to enforce the duties of the Republic (of Mozambique) and the obligations of this litigation I will do so, because this is my duty and the fairness of the judgment that I want to deliver to the Republic and all the parties are at stake," he told the Supreme Court.

Credit Suisse, Privinvest and others involved have asked for the compensation case to be annulled if Mozambique does not provide "adequate" documentation within a month, but the judge did not impose a deadline.

Mozambique's Attorney General, Beatriz Buchili, also quoted in the note, said that state secrecy prevents the release of some documents.

The Commercial Court, which is part of the High Court in London, has scheduled the main trial on the validity of the debts contracted by the Mozambican state for October 3.

Since December 2018, the "hidden debts" case has led to the imprisonment of former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, who is still in Pretoria awaiting extradition to the United States or Mozambique, as the courts have ordered.

In Maputo, 19 people, including Nhambi Guebueza, son of the former President of the Republic, Armando Guebuza, were sentenced to several years in prison for their involvement in the case.