Law Firm Amaral Gourgel & Associados no longer represents the legal interests of IURD and TV Record in Angola due to disagreement with the “judgmental” comments made against the Angolan people and First Lady Ana Diaz Laurenzo.
Luce was informed by lawyer and partner in charge Joao Amaral Gurgel, who said he had not seen the claims of Brazilian journalist Augusto Nunes about Ana Dia Lorenzo, published on Wednesday by TV Record in Brazil.
The commentator said that the wife of Angolan President João Laurenzo, who was also the planning minister under former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, would have been enriched by illegal deals involving the MPLA, the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and the advertising company Orion. and the announcement that he was a shareholder.
“The Constitution of Angola states that the Republic of Angola is a secular state and the government intervenes. But that’s one thing, another thing this gentleman [Augusto Nunes] make inappropriate comments in which you insult the first lady, ”the lawyer criticized.
Therefore, “we will no longer represent the interests of IURD and TV Record,” said Joao Amaral Gurgel, criticizing the offensive and derogatory comments made at Record.
Gurgel’s office is one of the legal representatives of the World Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD), the owner of TV Record Africa in Angola, a country where the internal conflict in the Brazilian church ended with the recognition and legitimization of the Angolan wing. a dissident, part of the government, although there are still cases pending in court.
On April 21, the Angolan government forced TV Record Africa to suspend broadcasting, claiming “non-compliance with the law.” On the same day, two other private channels, VIDA TV and Zap Viva, owned by the telecom operator ZAP, owned by the Angolan entrepreneur Isabel dos Santos, were suspended.
João Gurgel said he did not agree with the content of the reports broadcast by TV Record in the context of the conflict between the Brazilian wing and the Angolan wing of the IURD, which has been going on since 2019 and which has escalated since last year, with episodes. aggression and occupation of temples.
For a lawyer, it is unacceptable to portray Angolans who create an image of xenophobic people who “will attack foreign citizens.”
“I have always advised the IURD to cut off the Angolan people from what was going on, what was an internal conflict, it was a problem within the church, they didn’t need to involve Angolans or other Brazilians in Angola,” he said.
“Since they no longer take my recommendations into account, I prefer that my name not be associated with this type of comment. I disagree with you making such comments about the first lady, ”he said, explaining that for this reason he chose to separate the name of the company he represents from comments that he classified as“ low. from an ethical and moral point of view. “
From November 2019 IURD in Angola is the subject of a dispute over the leadership and legitimacy of the representation of the institution founded by the Brazilian Edir Macedo, between a Brazilian-born wing and a reformist wing.
The Brazilian wing convened a general assembly this Friday to elect new governing bodies, against which the reformist wing, led by Bishop Valente Bizerra Luis, is threatening to sue.
The meeting was expected to discuss and vote on the proposed amendment to the IURD Charter Angola, as well as positively assess the “prospective general assembly of the IURD” which was convened on February 13, 2021.
The legitimacy of this general assembly at that time was challenged by the IURD Angola, from which a dissident wing emerged, which was then legitimized at the government level.
The general meeting this Friday was held behind closed doors, and so far nothing is known about the discussions.
