A British human rights worker accused of espionage in Angola can leave the country on condition she return if asked to do so, her lawyers said on Thursday.
”According to the decision of the Attorney General, Sarah Wykes can leave the country under the condition that… if the Angolan judicial authorities request, she will come to Angola at her own cost,” Fernando Macedo said.
It was unclear when or whether Wykes, who is free on bail and still in Angola, would leave the country.
Wykes, an anti-corruption campaigner with Global Witness who was investigating transparency in Angola’s oil sector, was arrested last month. Angolan Attorney General Augusto Carneiro told Angola’s catholic Radio Eclesia on Wednesday Wykes was free to leave the country whenever she wanted.
If she is tried and found guilty on charges of violating Angola’s national security, she could face up to eight years in jail.
Global Witness, a non-governmental organisation, says the charges against Wykes are baseless and fears her case could take months or even a year to be resolved.
Angola, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest petroleum producer after Nigeria, is frequently accused of having one of the world’s most corrupt oil sectors, but Luanda refuses to bow to Western demands that it make its economy more transparent. – Reuters 2007