Former president of Angola José Eduardo dos Santos, who passed away at the age of 79 on Friday at a clinic in Barcelona, has been ordered by a Spanish court to have an autopsy done on his remains, a court spokesperson said on Monday.
She stated that the court had authorised a family member's request for the autopsy, which was still pending, but she gave no other information.
Tchizé dos Santos, whose daughter is being represented by the Carmen Varela family law firm, claimed earlier that she had requested that her father's body be kept in Spain for a thorough autopsy because of allegedly "suspicious circumstances of his death," without offering any supporting documentation.
According to the administration of Angolan President Joo Lourenço, his predecessor, who resigned five years prior, passed away at the Teknon facility in Barcelona, where he was being treated for a protracted illness. Regarding the request for an autopsy or the specifics of his passing, the clinic declined to comment. reading more
He had been getting medical care since 2019, and the Angolan government said the former leader's health had deteriorated in June, according to a report from the Portuguese news agency Lusa, which cited a source close to him. At the time, Lusa stated he was in intensive care in Barcelona. reading more
Additionally, Tchizé and her legal representatives contend that dos Santos wanted to be buried in Barcelona rather than having his remains sent back to Angola for a state funeral. Despite being personally chosen by dos Santos to succeed him, Lourenço proceeded right away to look into claims of massive corruption during the former president's administration, frequently involving the dos Santos family.
Dos Santos, who stated in a rare interview from 2013 that he wished to be remembered "as a decent patriot," never directly addressed the claims that he had let corruption to spread like wildfire.