The Mozambican government is refusing to share classified documents on debts issued without state guarantees, "Hidden Debts", amounting to more than two billion dollars, which could lead to the cancellation of the trial scheduled for October 2023 in London, England, to defend the interests of the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi.

According to Center for Public Integrity (CIP)The Attorney General of the Republic, Beatriz Buchili, omitted this refusal to share a document during her last report to the nation, despite stating that interlocutory steps were being taken to prepare for the trial.

"Due to the Mozambican state's refusal 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. The judge in the case, Robin Knowles, said that Mozambique's refusal to share documents on the hidden debts may be to defend the personal interests of President Filipe Nyusi and harm the Mozambican people," reads one of the reports. document released today by the IPC.

In a lawsuit taking place in London, the guarantees issued by Manuel Chang, the former Minister of Finance, to make the loans to the companies ProÍndicus and MAM possible, as well as compensation for the resulting damage to the state, are being demanded.

"If I have to exercise my powers to cancel (the trial) to ensure compliance with the Republic's duties and obligations in this case, I will do so. And I will do so because it is my duty to do so and because the fairness of the trial that I want to provide to the Republic and all the parties is at stake," said the judge of the commercial section of the High Court of England and Wales, Robin Knowles, on March 3, quoted by CIP.

The CIP also claims that these documents are in the possession of the Office of the President of the Republic, the Office of the Prime Minister, the State Intelligence and Security Service (SISE), the Council of State and the Ministry of the Interior. For the State, these are "classified documents", at risk of being leaked to the public if shared with the Court.

"The law that regulates the National Archives System allows classified information to be accessed by certain people or entities on a 'need to know' basis. This is what the London Court is demanding of the Mozambican state," explains CIP.

The state also refuses to share other documents "in the possession of the Ministry of the Interior and the Mozambican Navy".

CIP also says that the London court wants access to Manuel Chang's email account, but the Mozambican state claims that it is empty due to being unusable. The court suspects that the contents of Chang's account have been deleted and is demanding that the information be recovered.

"This institutional (email) account of Mr. Chang is potentially very important, and I will follow closely the efforts that the Republic makes here to get to the underlying data, despite the deletion," the CIP writes, citing the judge's decision.

As for Filipe Nyusi's interference in making it impossible to share the documents, the judge points out that he is a party to the litigation with maximum autonomy to access them, and "it may be his individual position that jeopardizes the position of the Republic". He also stressed that ultimately, the Republic of Mozambique can make a decision in the interests of the people.

However, at this stage of the process, he does not assume that Nyusi is acting for the benefit of the Republic and the people or out of self-interest.

"What can be said is that, to date, he has not done what is in his power to respond in relation to his personal involvement as a party and in relation to the allegations made against him personally. Nor, apparently, has he helped in his position at the head of relevant state entities with regard to access to documentation for the purposes of the Republic's disclosure duties," reads the judge's decision 63-year-old Englishman, quoted by CIP.

As a result, if the trial is canceled, "Mozambique would then have to pay more than 4 billion dollars in capital and interest on arrears. In addition, by June 2022, Mozambique had spent around 5 million pounds on lawyers assisting the OPG in London. The annulment of the case means that these costs will have been wasted".