The Mozambican government has agreed to allow lawyers from Peters & Peters access to some documents from the Office of the President of the Republic and the State Information and Security Service (SISE) relating to the hidden debts.

According to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), which is forwarding the information, this guarantees that the trial will take place in London's High Court

In May (17), the CIP said that the trial was in doubt because the Mozambican government refused to share the documents with the London court.

"Due to the refusal of the Mozambican state to disclose essential documents on the hidden debts, the trial scheduled for next October in the High Court of England and Wales may be canceled," CIP wrote at the time.

The judge in the case, Robin Knowles, believed that the reluctance to share the documents was to defend the interests of the current President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and to harm Mozambicans.

CIP announced today that three experts from the law firm Peters &Peters were in Mozambique between the 17th and 21st of this month.

"They were in Maputo to consult documents in the Office of the President of the Republic, as well as documents from the former director of SISE, Lagos Lidimo and the former Minister of Defense, Salvador Mtumuke," it reads.

The experts had access to "digital files and institutional emails of the figures mentioned to see if they can find any relevant documents related to the hidden debts that could be important for the ongoing proceedings in London".

Without success, the lawyers also wanted to search for documents on devices such as the computers of the former President of the Republic, Armando Guebuza, and the email of the former Finance Minister, Manuel Chang.

However, according to CIP, Peters & Peters were able to access devices from the National Treasury Director when the Hidden Debts were contracted, Isaltina Lucas, and from the current Minister of Agriculture, Celso Correia.

"In fact, it is unlikely that any relevant documents will be found from the survey, mainly due to the length of time since the hidden debts were contracted. About 10 years have passed and many documents may have been deliberately erased or have disappeared," says the CIP.

The civil society organization anticipates that this openness on the part of the Mozambican government to access any documents that may still exist could influence "the court's decision on Mozambique's main request".

"In the civil case of the hidden debts, initiated by the Mozambican state in the United Kingdom, the Attorney General's Office is asking for the annulment of the guarantees issued by Manuel Chang to guarantee the loans of ProIndicus, worth 622 million dollars, and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM), worth 535 million dollars. Mozambique is also asking for compensation for all the damages incurred in the hidden debt case. The defendants are the companies of the Privinvest group, Credit Suisse and the former Credit Suisse employees involved in the contracting of the hidden debts," it reads.