The former president of the São Tomé parliament, Delfim Neves, was released on Tuesday for lack of “conclusive evidence of participation” in the assault on the barracks on Friday, after being arrested by the military as the alleged mastermind, said the Portuguese lawyer. .
“The office [de libertação] was issued tonight by the criminal investigation judge, since there is no conclusive and solid proof of it [Delfim Neves] involved,” the lawyer for the former president of the National Assembly of Sao Tome and Principe, Hamilton Vaz, told Lusa.
According to Delfim Neves’ defense, he was subject to a term of identity and residence.
The lawyer did not clarify if there is any accusation against the deputy.
Delfim Neves was arrested at dawn this Friday by the military, when he was at his home, for having been identified as one of the leaders of the attack on the Army headquarters.
In the early morning of the 25th, four men attacked the Armed Forces headquarters in the capital of São Tomé, in an assault that lasted for almost six hours, with intense exchanges of shots and explosions, and during which they took hostage to the duty officer. , who was seriously injured due to the attacks.
The attack was neutralized at 06:00 local time (same Lisbon time), with the arrest of the four assailants and 12 soldiers suspected of participating in the action, which was described by the Santo Tomás authorities as an “attempted coup.” Condition”. and condemned by the international community.
The military also arrested Arlécio Costa, a former officer of the ‘Buffalo Battalion’ who was sentenced in 2009 for an attempted coup d’état, and who was also identified by the attackers as the mastermind.
Three of the four attackers and Arlécio Costa died on Friday and images of the men with assault marks, bloodied and with their hands tied behind their backs, still alive and already in the morgue, were widely shared on social media.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Brigadier Olinto Paquete, said that the three assailants died as a result of an explosion when the military tried to free the hostage and Arlécio Costa because he “jumped from the vehicle.”
Delfim Neves, elected in the October 2018 legislative elections by the Democratic Convergence Party (PCD), presided over the Sao Tome parliament in the previous legislature, which culminated in the victory of Acción Democrática Independiente (ADI) by an absolute majority in the elections last September. elections.
In these legislative elections, he was elected deputy, along with former ADI general secretary Levy Nazaré, for the Basta movement, created in June last year. Currently, his term is suspended.
Delfim Neves also ran in the 2021 presidential election, placing third in the first round, a result he contested on the grounds that “massive” fraud had occurred.
Source: TSF
