A Spanish court has ruled that an autopsy be performed on the body of Angola's former president José Eduardo dos Santos who died in a clinic in Barcelona on Friday at the age of 79, a court spokeswoman said on Monday.
She said the court had granted the request of a family member for the autopsy, which was yet to take place, but provided no further details.
The Carmen Varela family law firm representing dos Santos' daughter Tchizé dos Santos, said earlier she had asked for her father's body to be kept in Spain for a full autopsy due to alleged "suspicious circumstances of his death", without providing evidence.
Dos Santos, who died on Friday, July 8, ruled Angola between 1979 and 2017. He had lived in Barcelona since April 2019, and was taken to a clinic there before his death.
His 44-year-old daughter -- whose full name is Welwitschia dos Santos, known as "Tchize" -- swiftly demanded the hospital retain his body "until an appropriate autopsy is carried out."
A Barcelona court authorized the post-mortem on Friday, the day of his death, a court spokeswoman said.
The results of the autopsy are not yet available, a spokesperson for Tchize dos Santos' lawyers said.
The 79-year-old was taken to hospital and placed in intensive care after suffering a cardiac arrest on June 23.
Tchize has filed a legal case in Spain against the former Angolan president's widow, Ana Paula, and his personal physician for "attempted murder".
The complaint also includes allegations relating to "failure to exercise a duty of care, injury resulting from gross negligence and disclosure of secrets by people close to him," her lawyers said in a statement on Friday.
Tchize claimed her father and his wife had been separated for some time, meaning that his spouse had no right to make decisions about his health.
Police confirmed receiving the complaint and said they had opened an inquiry.
Tchize also argues her father wanted to be buried privately in Spain and not in Angola in a state funeral "which could favour the current government" in the former Portuguese colony.
Born in the slums of Luanda, dos Santos was one of Africa's longest-serving leaders.
Critics say he used his nation's oil wealth to enrich his family while leaving his people among the poorest on the planet.
When he stepped down, dos Santos handed over to former defence minister Joao Lourenco whom he had handpicked to succeed him.
But Lourenco quickly turned on his erstwhile patron, starting an anti-corruption drive to recoup the billions he suspected had been embezzled under dos Santos.
