A Barcelona court has authorised an autopsy on former Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santo, who died in the city on Friday after his family alleged a conspiracy to kill him.
His daughter, Tchize dos Santos, had requested the autopsy.
Political enemies did not want him to back the opposition in next month’s Angolan elections, she said.
Dos Santos, 79, was in Spain for medical treatment and died after a cardiac arrest.
He had been in power for 38 years when he stepped down in 2017.
Lawyers for the Dos Santos family have also denounced moves by the Angolan government to return the body there for a state funeralagainst the ex-president’s expressed wish to be buried privately in Spain. He was said to have been afraid his death would be politicised, which would make it impossible for his children to travel to Angola for his funeral or visit his grave.
His death has reportedly worsened relations between his family and the Angolan government.
Another of his daughters, Isabel dos Santos, has been charged with mismanagement and embezzlement of public funds when she headed the state oil firm, Sonangol. She has denied the charges and said she was the target of political persecution.
President João Lourenço, who was hand-picked by Dos Santos to succeed him and was from the same party, the MPLA, has denied accusations that the government had any link to the former president’s death.
He stated that the Angolan government had a duty to organise a state funeral for the country’s long-time leader. He also said any Angolan citizen who wanted to travel to Angola for Dos Santos’ funeral would be able to do so.
The death of the former president during an election year represented a big challenge for the governing MPLA and President Lourenço.
Dos Santos and President Lourenço met for the last time over Christmas last year at the late president’s official residence in Luanda. But it seemed that not even this move by the late President was enough to repair the already damaged relations.
President Lourenço’s desire to hold a state funeral for Dos Santos in Angola has faced fierce opposition, notably from Tchizé dos Santos, the third daughter of Dos Santos and a former MPLA MP. -BBC
