Angola: Spain closes investigation into death of José Eduardo dos Santos

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Angola: Spain closes investigation into death of José Eduardo dos Santos

11:20 CAT | 05 Oct 2022

File photo: Lusa

Spain’s justice system has closed the investigation into the death of José Eduardo dos Santos, a former president of Angola, confirming that it was due to natural causes, according to a ruling issued by a court in Barcelona and published on Tuesday.

The decision by the court in Catalonia to close the case came after it concluded that dos Santos had died in the city on 8 July of “exclusively natural causes” – the same findings as the initial autopsy.

The investigation was opened following a formal complaint by some of the former Angolan president’s children, who claimed that their father might have died due to negligence in the care provided to him by his personal doctor and by his last wife, Ana Paula dos Santos.

In the decision, cited on Tuesday by EFE, Europa Press and AFP news agencies, the judge states that “the lack of evidence of such a crime, given the definitive autopsy report and the health documents included in the case file, lead to the provisional closure and closure of the case,” adding: “There are no elements that allow it to be considered that he was not provided care at some point.”

Lawyers for the eldest children of the former president, led by ‘Tchizé’ dos Santos, submitted a criminal complaint in July that cited possible offences of “omission of the duty of assistance” and “revelation of secrets”.

On 17 August, Spanish officials concluded that José Eduardo dos Santos had died of natural causes and ordered the body to be handed over to his widow, Ana Paula.

His eldest children lodged appeals against these decisions, arguing that “despite the judicial autopsy having concluded that the death of the former president of Angola was due to natural causes” there were “indications” that Ana Paula and the late former president’s personal doctor, João Afonso, did not adopt “all the necessary and appropriate measures to guarantee his full health” and that they had also revealed “very sensitive information” about his state to journalists in Angola and Portugal.

“All of this, in collaboration” with Angola’s current government, with the aim of “hastening the transfer of the body,” in order for this to take place before Angola’s presidential elections on 24 August, the eldest children argued.

Against that backdrop, their lawyers sought a judicial hearing for Ana Paula and Afonso as “people under investigation.

But the Spanish justice system has now closed the case, according to the decision made known on Tuesday.

Regarding the disclosure of “very sensitive information” about the health of José Eduardo dos Santos to journalists, the court said that the state of health of the former president was public knowledge and that it was not known who were the sources cited by the plaintiffs.

On 20 August, Spanish officials handed over José Eduardo dos Santos’ body to his widow, despite its also being claimed by his eldest children.

The body was taken to Angola and the funeral took place there on 28 August.

Dos Santos succeeded Agostinho Neto as head of state of Angola in 1979 and left office in 2017, having served for one of the longest periods of any president in the world, amid longstanding accusations of corruption and nepotism.

In 2017, he declined to run again and João Lourenço was elected to succeed him in office, having been chosen as its candidate by the governing MPLA, which has been in power in Angola since the country became independent from Portugal in 1975.

Source: Lusa