"Church leaders expressed gratitude for the full exoneration of the men—four of them Adventist pastors—who had been falsely accused in an alleged kidnapping plot.
A full acquittal by the Supreme Court of Angola on May 15 has ended a two-year legal ordeal for four Seventh-day Adventist Church pastors and one layperson falsely accused in an abduction conspiracy.
The false accusations of kidnapping against the men stemmed from an incident that took place in 2015, involving an elaborate staged abduction of a former Adventist conference president and a demand for money from the church. Those responsible for the fake kidnapping sought to cast blame elsewhere, which eventually resulted in charges being brought against six Adventist men.
Passmore Hachalinga, from Zambia, Burns Sibanda, from Zimbabwe, and Teixeira Mateus Vinte from Angola—all administrators for the church in the North Eastern Angola Union—were accused of involvement in the plot. One other pastor, Adão António Dala Hebo, and two Adventist laypeople, Garcia José Dala and João Alfredo Dala, were also accused. One of the accused, João Alfredo Dala, was tortured during his interrogation by police and died three years later of complications from his injuries.
In late 2017, following a trial filled with marked irregularities, the presiding judge sentenced all six men to terms in prison ranging from three and a half to five years. Hachalinga and Sibanda were incarcerated for 62 days before the Supreme Court found their detention illegal and ordered their release to await the outcome of their appeal. Their full exoneration by the Supreme Court in May this year marks the end of their legal challenges."
ANN
...And all the people said, Amen... 1 Chronicles 16:36
A full acquittal by the Supreme Court of Angola on May 15 has ended a two-year legal ordeal for four Seventh-day Adventist Church pastors and one layperson falsely accused in an abduction conspiracy.
The false accusations of kidnapping against the men stemmed from an incident that took place in 2015, involving an elaborate staged abduction of a former Adventist conference president and a demand for money from the church. Those responsible for the fake kidnapping sought to cast blame elsewhere, which eventually resulted in charges being brought against six Adventist men.
Passmore Hachalinga, from Zambia, Burns Sibanda, from Zimbabwe, and Teixeira Mateus Vinte from Angola—all administrators for the church in the North Eastern Angola Union—were accused of involvement in the plot. One other pastor, Adão António Dala Hebo, and two Adventist laypeople, Garcia José Dala and João Alfredo Dala, were also accused. One of the accused, João Alfredo Dala, was tortured during his interrogation by police and died three years later of complications from his injuries.
In late 2017, following a trial filled with marked irregularities, the presiding judge sentenced all six men to terms in prison ranging from three and a half to five years. Hachalinga and Sibanda were incarcerated for 62 days before the Supreme Court found their detention illegal and ordered their release to await the outcome of their appeal. Their full exoneration by the Supreme Court in May this year marks the end of their legal challenges."
ANN
...And all the people said, Amen... 1 Chronicles 16:36
