What impelled authorities to call it Operation Fizz is unclear, but Portuguese justice is not letting this complicated investigation run out of gas.
Says Lusa this morning, it “wants Manuel Vicente made an arguido”, irrespective of whether the former Angolan vice-president thinks he should be immune from this kind of intrusion.
A letter rogatory to this effect has given Vicente two weeks to decide his response, says the news service.
The reason for judicial urgency is that Vicente’s alleged foil in this corruption probe is a career civil servant who has been under house arrest since February 2016.
Orlando Figueira stands accused of passive corruption, money-laundering, violation of judicial secrecy and document falsification.
Fizz centres on Vicente’s alleged payments (of an ‘estimated’ €760,000) to Figueira to ensure that two corruption inquiries against him were archived.
Others cited in the alleged web of collusion include a high-profile lawyer whose allegations, says Sábado, threaten a judicial “earthquake”.
What happens next will depend on what comes back from Angola. The letter rogatory was sent on November 7, says Lusa today, giving Vicente 20 (working) days. Time should be up on December 5 .
Fizz may have been so named because it could be seen a fuse quietly burning on its way to political dynamite (click here).
