The shots came as a result of the tensions that took place on Thursday night (11/30) after the Public Prosecution ordered the preventive arrest of Finance Minister Suleiman Saidi and State Secretary of the Treasury Antonio Montero.
The two government members were taken to the Judicial Police headquarters, where they were removed from their cells by members of the National Guard, according to what several witnesses told Lusa.
Minister of Economy and Finance of Guinea-Bissau, Suleiman Al-Saidi,A judicial source told Lusa that the Secretary of State for the Treasury, Antonio Montero, was arrested today as part of an operation related to payments to businessmen.
According to the source, Sidi and Montero were placed in pretrial detention and transferred to the judicial police cells in the Reino neighborhood, near Mercado do Bandem, in central Bissau, after about six hours of hearing in the Public Prosecution. .
Government officials are being investigated as part of a payment of six billion CFA francs (about 9.14 million euros) to 11 businessmen, through credit to a commercial bank in Bissau.
The opposition, which denounced the case in Parliament, says it is a crime of violations and disrespect for budget rules, attributed to the Minister of Economy and Finance, which was heard last Monday in Parliament.
In that case, Souleymane Sidi confirmed the credit request, said that the entire process was legal and also reiterated that it was a normal procedure between the Governments of Guinea-Bissau.
Opposition complaints
The opposition, with the voice of the Movement for Democratic Alternation (Madem G15), considers the operation fraudulent because it involves “only government-linked businessmen” from the Platform of the All-Inclusive Alliance (PAI – Terra Ranka) coalition.
Shortly after the case was reported, the Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted inspections and seized documents at the Ministry of Economy and Finance as well as at the bank that granted credit to the businessmen for payment.
Several leaders of the Ministry of Economy and Finance have already been interviewed since last week, and today the two main people in charge of the institution were arrested.
Souleymane Sidi and Antonio Monteiro are the leaders of the African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which leads the PAI-Terra Ranka coalition in government, along with the Party of Social Renewal (PRS) and the Workers’ Party of Guinea (PTG). ) and five other small political formations.
Madim G15 and United People’s Assembly – Democratic Party of Guinea –Bissau (APU – PDGB) is the only opposition in Parliament.
The arrest of the holder of the finance portfolio came on the day the government approved in the Council of Ministers the general state budget for the year 2024, which is scheduled to be discussed and voted on in the plenary session of the National People’s Assembly, which will continue until next December. 27th.
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