Four of the sons of Angola’s former president Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Barcelona on July 8, sought the intervention of a judge to summon his late wife for testimony. Ana Paula is expected to provide details as an investigation into the president’s passing unfolds.
According to a document reviewed by Efe, Tchizé dos Santos and his three brothers, through the Barcelona Court of Investigation 11, have placed both Ana Paula and the president’s physician, Dr. Joao Alfonso, under scrutiny for alleged negligence in the care of the deceased and for breaching confidentiality by sharing sensitive information.
The document asserts that although Dos Santos was said to have died of natural causes in the autopsy, there are troubling indicators. It notes that those responsible for his care indicated he did not receive the necessary measures to fully safeguard his health.
In the correspondence, the defendants are described as having canceled medical appointments for the former president when his condition was most fragile. The day before the passing of the aunt of those represented, it is claimed that Dr. Alfonso did not appear for several days, and Ana Paula did not have Dos Santos connected to a ventilator when it might have mattered most.
The text further mentions that leaks about Dos Santos’s health—likely originating from the doctor—appeared in Angolan and Portuguese media, revealing confidential information.
The document also records that Ana Paula and Dr. Alfonso press the link between the doctor and the current Angolan government, suggesting that the ruler in Luanda may want to exploit the former president’s image for partisan ends ahead of the next elections this Wednesday.
In this context, the legal representative for Tchizé dos Santos and his siblings accused Ana Paula of removing Dos Santos’s body from the care of the court and his children without notifying the court or seeking a formal funeral order, prior to the transfer to Spain.
The lawyers also reminded the judge that the body was handed to Ana Paula for burial, despite assurances that it had been photographed and presented after its return to Angola.
Eduardo dos Santos, who led Angola from 1979 to 2017 with a hard-handed style, moved part of his family to Barcelona in 2019 amid what his family described as intense political persecution, before returning to Angola later that year. Freedom of movement and health concerns have persisted in discussions about his later years.
Dos Santos returned to Barcelona in March of this year due to health fragility, and according to his daughter, his condition had shown some improvement until Ana Paula’s arrival raised new questions about his care and the circumstances surrounding his death.