Lawyer Alexandre Chivale, who was removed from the Hidden Debts trial when he was representing some of the defendants, is back in action, this time assisting former Finance Minister Manuel Chang.

The Newspaper Mozambique Channel says that lawyer Chivale himself confirmed, without much detail, the information about his joining Manuel Chang's group of lawyers. On the other hand, he has provided valuable clarification on the case in question.

He told the newspaper that the US justice system is not looking for Manuel Chang because of Hidden Debts, but for defrauding US investors who bought debt securities from the Mozambican Tuna Company (EMATUM).

"A group of investors bought the bonds and weren't paid when they were due and filed a complaint with the court," he explained, stressing that the case "has nothing to do with the Hidden Debts".

He said that the request to annul Chang's trial before the US courts was not the result of the decision taken by the South African courts. He said that the submission of the request is the culmination of a process that began in October 2022.

The expectation, according to Chivale, is that the case brought against Manuel Chang will have the same verdict applied to Jean Boustani.

"From our assessment, the charges are the same and so are the circumstances. Manuel Chang's case is exactly the same. He signed the guarantees, but it is the current government that converted the bonds and put them on the market and negotiated them with the American investors," he said.

In all this, Manuel Chang, if he wants to, can "accept the charges and reach an agreement with the courts and become a collaborator with the Americans, or reject them and go on trial, as Jean Boustani did".