Angolagate
Encyclopedia
Angolagate, also known as the Mitterrand-Pasqua affair, is an international political scandal
over the secret sale and shipment of arms from Central Europe
to the government of Angola
by the Government of France
in the 1990s. The scandal has been tied to several prominent figures in French politics.
José Eduardo dos Santos
of Angola met with Jonas Savimbi
of UNITA
in Bicesse/Portugal
and signed the Bicesse Accords, a peace agreement that attempted unsuccessfully to end the Angolan Civil War
, on May 31, 1991, with the mediation of the Portuguese government
. The accords laid out a transition to multi-party democracy
under the supervision of the United Nations
' UNAVEM II mission with a presidential election in a year.
The accords attempted to demobilize the 152,000 active fighters and integrate the remaining government troops and UNITA rebels into a 50,000-strong Angolan Armed Forces
(FAA). The FAA would consist of a national army with 40,000 troops, navy with 6,000, and air force with 4,000. While UNITA largely did not disarm, the FAA complied with the accord and demobilized, leaving the government disadvantaged. At the same time, the Cuban troops that had helped MPLA forces to push back the South African army and UNITA rebels during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
, completed their withdrawal from Angola. This meant that the MPLA would have an even greater disadvantage if fighting resumed (as they were aligned with the FAA).
Angola held a presidential election in 1992
. In the first round dos Santos officially received 49.57% of the vote and Savimbi won 40.6%. Savimbi said the election had neither been free nor fair and refused to participate in the second round. International observers, however, affirmed that the elections had been largely free and fair, leaving spectators to believe that Savimbi simply wasn't prepared to accept his probable election failure. UNITA renewed its guerrilla war, capturing five of Angola's eighteen provincial capitals.
on the verge of defeat, dos Santos contacted Jean-Bernard Curial, the former French Socialist Party Southern Africa expert, and asked him to come to Luanda
. When he came back, Curial, supportive of dos Santos, contacted members of the government, President's advisor for African Affairs, Bruno Delahe and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand
, son of then-President François Mitterrand
. Jean-Christophe referred Curial to Pierre Falcone
, head of Brenco International, a consortium of companies, and adviser to Sofremi, a parastatal run by the right-wing Interior Minister
Charles Pasqua
. Pasqua believed that in the early 1990s the U.S. government's support for UNITA had diminished while tacit support for the MPLA increased because peace would increase oil output. He argued that if Mitterrand's position on Angola did not change in kind, French oil companies would miss out on a vital opportunity.
Jean-Christophe's lawyer says that Jean-Christophe Mitterrand first met Falcone after he stopped working as an expert on Africa for the Élysée
. Falcone and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand first met in July 1992 in Phoenix, Arizona, after he left his charges as President's advisor for African Affairs. At that time he was with his family, on holiday, in the United States, with a relation who was an employee of Thomson CSF, a French arms and electronics company. He introduced Jean-Christophe Mitterrand to his friend Pierre Falcone during a dinner at his home in Scottsdale
in July 1992. At that time Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was free of government charges until May 1992, and had already signed a contract with a private French company (La compagnie generale des Eaux).
After the Angolan elections (see above), Curial met Falcone, who went to Angola for the first time and organised for the Angolan government a successful pre-paid operation in oil dealing. Later the Angolan government gave him an official mission to supervise supplying his army with arms from an East Central European country (Slovakia). The Angolan government bought USD $47 million worth of ammunition, mortar, and artillery from the Slovakian company ZTS-OZOS on November 7, 1993, which dos Santos received in December. In April 1994 the government bought $463 million worth of fighter aircraft
and tank
s. By late 1994 the Angolan government had purchased $633 million worth of weapons.
Dos Santos secretly had Elísio de Figueiredo
, the former ambassador of Angola to France, act as Angola's envoy
to friendly contacts in France. Falcone worked with the Angolan government through Figueiredo, who allegedly received $18 million from Brenco International for his cooperation.
and signed an agreement with dos Santos on November 29, 1994, that promised to organise a better relationship with the French government where some ministers, Leotard (ministry for defense), and Alain Madelin (Minister for finances), were openly supporting Jonas Savimbi for many years. In exchange they seemed to receive Angolese political and financial agreement for Pasqua's party which was running for European elections. Afterwards, Jacques Chirac
planned to run for president in the 1995 election
. When Pasqua endorsed Edouard Balladur
, Chirac's rival, Chirac's supporters told French Inland Revenue
about Falcone's arms shipments, alleging income tax evasion. While there is agreement that no arms ever passed through France, French Inland Revenue investigated individuals connected with the scandal because agreements were allegedly signed in Paris. Allain Guilloux, Brenco International's fiscal lawyer in France, says the Angolan government agreed to Marchiani's deal in Luanda, not Paris.
In 1996 the French Financial Brigades confiscated 50,000 documents from the offices of Falcone and Arcadi Gaydamak
, a Russia
n–Israel
i businessman and associate of Falcone.
In April 2007, the investigative magistrate Jean-Philippe Courroye indicted 42 people, including Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, Jacques Attali
, Charles Pasqua
and Jean-Charles Marchiani
, for having received illegal payments from Pierre Falcone
. Arcadi Gaydamak
and Falcone were also indicted. The writer Paul-Loup Sulitzer
has also been indicted, charged of having received €380,000 from Falcone, as well as the Union for a Popular Movement
deputy Georges Fenech
, charged of having received €15,200 in 1997 from Brenco. The trial started in 2008, in absentia
of Gaydamak who left for Israel.
Sulitzer admitted taking €300,000 in return for information in December 2008, testifying against Falcone. He accused prosecutors of "trying to kill a mosquito with a nuclear bomb."
, and it was unclear whether he would ever serve the prison term. Falcone, who tried and failed to claim diplomatic immunity
in the case, was taken into custody by police when the judge finished reading out the sentences. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was found guilty of receiving $2 million from Falcone and Gaydamak to promote their interests, and sentenced to a two year suspended sentence and a €375,000 fine. Paul-Loup Sulitzer was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to 15 months in prison and a €100,000 fine. Jacques Attali and Georges Fenech were acquitted. In total, thirty six individuals were convicted of various levels of involvement in the scandal.
Political scandal
A political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...
over the secret sale and shipment of arms from Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
to the government of Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
by the Government of France
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
in the 1990s. The scandal has been tied to several prominent figures in French politics.
Bicesse Accords
PresidentPresident of Angola
The President of the Republic of Angola is both head of state and head of government in Angola. While the President appoints a Prime Minister, executive authority usually belongs to the President....
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been the second and current President of Angola since 1979. As President, José Eduardo dos Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces and president of the MPLA , the party that has been ruling Angola since...
of Angola met with Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
of UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
in Bicesse/Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and signed the Bicesse Accords, a peace agreement that attempted unsuccessfully to end the Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
, on May 31, 1991, with the mediation of the Portuguese government
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The accords laid out a transition to multi-party democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
under the supervision of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' UNAVEM II mission with a presidential election in a year.
The accords attempted to demobilize the 152,000 active fighters and integrate the remaining government troops and UNITA rebels into a 50,000-strong Angolan Armed Forces
Angolan Armed Forces
The Angolan Armed Forces are the military in Angola that succeeded Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola following the abortive Bicesse Accord with UNITA in 1991. As part of the peace agreement, troops from both armies were to be demilitarized and then integrated. Integration was never completed...
(FAA). The FAA would consist of a national army with 40,000 troops, navy with 6,000, and air force with 4,000. While UNITA largely did not disarm, the FAA complied with the accord and demobilized, leaving the government disadvantaged. At the same time, the Cuban troops that had helped MPLA forces to push back the South African army and UNITA rebels during the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 1987/88 was an important episode in the Angolan Civil War . Between 9 September and 7 October 1987, the Angolan Army , in an attempt to finally subdue the Angolan insurgent movement UNITA in south-eastern Angola, was decisively repelled in a series of battles at the...
, completed their withdrawal from Angola. This meant that the MPLA would have an even greater disadvantage if fighting resumed (as they were aligned with the FAA).
Angola held a presidential election in 1992
Angolan presidential election, 1992
General elections were held in Angola on 29 and 30 September 1992 to elect a President and National Assembly, the first time multi-party elections had been held in the country. They followed the signing of the Bicesse Accord on 31 May 1991 in an attempt to end the 17-year long civil war...
. In the first round dos Santos officially received 49.57% of the vote and Savimbi won 40.6%. Savimbi said the election had neither been free nor fair and refused to participate in the second round. International observers, however, affirmed that the elections had been largely free and fair, leaving spectators to believe that Savimbi simply wasn't prepared to accept his probable election failure. UNITA renewed its guerrilla war, capturing five of Angola's eighteen provincial capitals.
Arms sales
With the MPLAPopular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...
on the verge of defeat, dos Santos contacted Jean-Bernard Curial, the former French Socialist Party Southern Africa expert, and asked him to come to Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
. When he came back, Curial, supportive of dos Santos, contacted members of the government, President's advisor for African Affairs, Bruno Delahe and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand is the son of former French president François Mitterrand. He was an advisor to his father on African affairs from 1986 to 1992, and earned the nickname Papamadit in Africa.- Life and career :Mitterrand was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine...
, son of then-President François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
. Jean-Christophe referred Curial to Pierre Falcone
Pierre Falcone
Pierre Falcone is a member of Angola's delegation to UNESCO, and holds the rank of Minister Counsellor. He is married to artist and socialite Sonia Falcone....
, head of Brenco International, a consortium of companies, and adviser to Sofremi, a parastatal run by the right-wing Interior Minister
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
. Pasqua believed that in the early 1990s the U.S. government's support for UNITA had diminished while tacit support for the MPLA increased because peace would increase oil output. He argued that if Mitterrand's position on Angola did not change in kind, French oil companies would miss out on a vital opportunity.
Jean-Christophe's lawyer says that Jean-Christophe Mitterrand first met Falcone after he stopped working as an expert on Africa for the Élysée
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
. Falcone and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand first met in July 1992 in Phoenix, Arizona, after he left his charges as President's advisor for African Affairs. At that time he was with his family, on holiday, in the United States, with a relation who was an employee of Thomson CSF, a French arms and electronics company. He introduced Jean-Christophe Mitterrand to his friend Pierre Falcone during a dinner at his home in Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
in July 1992. At that time Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was free of government charges until May 1992, and had already signed a contract with a private French company (La compagnie generale des Eaux).
After the Angolan elections (see above), Curial met Falcone, who went to Angola for the first time and organised for the Angolan government a successful pre-paid operation in oil dealing. Later the Angolan government gave him an official mission to supervise supplying his army with arms from an East Central European country (Slovakia). The Angolan government bought USD $47 million worth of ammunition, mortar, and artillery from the Slovakian company ZTS-OZOS on November 7, 1993, which dos Santos received in December. In April 1994 the government bought $463 million worth of fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
and tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s. By late 1994 the Angolan government had purchased $633 million worth of weapons.
Dos Santos secretly had Elísio de Figueiredo
Elísio de Figueiredo
Elísio de Figueiredo served as the first ambassador of Angola to the United Nations from 1976 to 1988 as well as the Minister of Industry.-External links:*...
, the former ambassador of Angola to France, act as Angola's envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
to friendly contacts in France. Falcone worked with the Angolan government through Figueiredo, who allegedly received $18 million from Brenco International for his cooperation.
Scandal uncovered
Jean-Charles Marchiani, Pasqua's subordinate, allegedly went to LuandaLuanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
and signed an agreement with dos Santos on November 29, 1994, that promised to organise a better relationship with the French government where some ministers, Leotard (ministry for defense), and Alain Madelin (Minister for finances), were openly supporting Jonas Savimbi for many years. In exchange they seemed to receive Angolese political and financial agreement for Pasqua's party which was running for European elections. Afterwards, Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
planned to run for president in the 1995 election
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
. When Pasqua endorsed Edouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
, Chirac's rival, Chirac's supporters told French Inland Revenue
Fisc
Under the Merovingians and Carolingians, the fisc applied to the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported, though it rarely was...
about Falcone's arms shipments, alleging income tax evasion. While there is agreement that no arms ever passed through France, French Inland Revenue investigated individuals connected with the scandal because agreements were allegedly signed in Paris. Allain Guilloux, Brenco International's fiscal lawyer in France, says the Angolan government agreed to Marchiani's deal in Luanda, not Paris.
In 1996 the French Financial Brigades confiscated 50,000 documents from the offices of Falcone and Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak, is a Russian-Israeli businessman, who was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour. On April 29, 2011 the Court of Appeal in Paris acquitted him of charges of arms dealing...
, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n–Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i businessman and associate of Falcone.
Arrest and trial
French police arrested Falcone on December 1, 2000, on charges of tax fraud. Seven days later the French government issued a warrant for the arrest of Gaydamak. French police arrested Jean-Christophe Mitterrand on December 21 for his supposed role in the arms deal, but released him on January 11 when his mother paid his $725,000 bail. A judge found Mitterrand guilty in 2004 of tax fraud and gave him a suspended sentence of 30 months in prison.In April 2007, the investigative magistrate Jean-Philippe Courroye indicted 42 people, including Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, Jacques Attali
Jacques Attali
Jacques Attali is a French economist, writer and senior civil servant.Former adviser to President François Mitterrand and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he founded the non-profit organization PlaNet Finance and was nominated President of the Commission for...
, Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
and Jean-Charles Marchiani
Jean-Charles Marchiani
Jean-Charles Marchiani, is a French prefect and politician. He is also a former officer of the French external intelligence agency .Jean-Charles Marchiani is a counter-terrorism expert, especially focused on Islamic fundamentalism...
, for having received illegal payments from Pierre Falcone
Pierre Falcone
Pierre Falcone is a member of Angola's delegation to UNESCO, and holds the rank of Minister Counsellor. He is married to artist and socialite Sonia Falcone....
. Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Gaydamak
Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak, is a Russian-Israeli businessman, who was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour. On April 29, 2011 the Court of Appeal in Paris acquitted him of charges of arms dealing...
and Falcone were also indicted. The writer Paul-Loup Sulitzer
Paul-Loup Sulitzer
Paul Loup Karl Sulitzer is a French financier and author. Before he turned seventeen, he was already a self-made millionaire. Sulitzer used his financial experience and knowledge in his books which often related to the business world.His novel, The Green King , was made into a comic series...
has also been indicted, charged of having received €380,000 from Falcone, as well as the Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
deputy Georges Fenech
Georges Fenech
-Biography:Born to a Maltese father and Italian mother in Sousse in Tunisia, in 1963 Fenech's family was repatriated in France, where they settled in Givors. After studying for a law degree, he started a career as a judge...
, charged of having received €15,200 in 1997 from Brenco. The trial started in 2008, in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
of Gaydamak who left for Israel.
Sulitzer admitted taking €300,000 in return for information in December 2008, testifying against Falcone. He accused prosecutors of "trying to kill a mosquito with a nuclear bomb."
Sentencing
The sentences for the "Angolagate affair" were handed down on October 27, 2009. Charles Pasqua and Jean-Charles Marchiani were found guilty of taking money from Gaydamak and Falcone while knowing it was proceeds of crime. Pasqua was sentenced to three years in prison of which two suspended, and €100,000 fine. Marchiani was sentenced to three months in prison. Gaydamak and Falcone were found guilty of illegal arms deals, tax fraud, money laundering, embezzlement and others, sentenced to six years in prison and multi-mlllion-euro fines each. Gaydamak was sentenced in absentiaIn absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, and it was unclear whether he would ever serve the prison term. Falcone, who tried and failed to claim diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
in the case, was taken into custody by police when the judge finished reading out the sentences. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand was found guilty of receiving $2 million from Falcone and Gaydamak to promote their interests, and sentenced to a two year suspended sentence and a €375,000 fine. Paul-Loup Sulitzer was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to 15 months in prison and a €100,000 fine. Jacques Attali and Georges Fenech were acquitted. In total, thirty six individuals were convicted of various levels of involvement in the scandal.