Lobito — More than seven hundred alleged criminals have been arrested in the last thirty days in Benguela province, as part of a police operation called 'High Pressure', ANGOP learned on Monday.
The information was provided to the press by the provincial police commander, Commissioner Aristófanes dos Santos, on the sidelines of a meeting he held with guarantee judges to analyze the state of public security in the region.
The commissioner said that the condition of detention of the said citizens is considered valid.
The commander made this statement to clarify the fact that the police arrested alleged delinquents and they were released a few days later by order of the Attorney General's Office.
Aristófanes dos Santos explained that, after arrest, the alleged criminals are presented to the magistrates, accompanied by the respective criminal process, to assess what weighs on them, and they decide whether they are likely to be taken to prison or released.
'It is necessary to prove what the person committed,' the commander clarified, adding that 'it is not enough to say that the citizen is a criminal.'
The commissioning officer said, on the other hand, that there is also the problem of the lack of reporting and this fact makes the work of both the Police and the guarantee judges unfeasible.
'The Police will report in accordance with the evidence of evidence. It will be up to the Judge to decide whether to convict or release', he said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Asked about the reality in terms of public security in the province, Aristófanes dos Santos said that it is never absolute, taking into account the various occurrences, adding that 'it is not endemic either'.
According to him, when analyzing public security, one must evaluate the patterns of criminal analysis that have to do with the territory, the population and the crime rate.
He considered that the meeting with the guarantee judges was 'very fruitful' because, regardless of their function, they are also citizens and need to know what the Police have done.
Aristófanes dos Santos announced, however, that the actions of that military body will continue, along with others related to road accidents.
'We will soon start with an operation that has to do with the anarchy of many motorcycle taxi drivers, despite the fact that some of them do a good job,' he said.
The most flagrant infractions of motorcycle taxi drivers have to do with transporting three to four people, circulating on the public road in the opposite direction and without lighting.
'The police must apply cross-cutting measures so that our citizens live in peace and security,' said the commander.
In turn, guarantee judge Jilson de Jesus said that it is necessary to create some alignment regarding the procedures to be adopted, with regard to procedural files.
'This meeting was important because it produced the desired objectives, in that it was understood that the Police must opt for a police procedure that complies with legality and the citizen's fundamental guarantees', he stated.
