José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola from 1979 to 2017, died July 8 at the age of 79 in Barcelona. Two factions of the family are disputing in court over who will get custody of the former Angolan president’s body.
Tchizé dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, will appeal the decision of the Spanish court that awarded custody of the corpse to his ex-wife Ana Paula dos Santos, said this Wednesday to Lusa the lawyer.
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“The decision of the instruction judge number 11 of Barcelona to deliver the body of the former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos to his former wife will be subject to appeal by Tchizé dos Santos,” lawyer Carmen Varela told Lusa, explaining that the argument has to do with the jurisdiction of the court.
“We will file an appeal because we understand that the criminal jurisdiction is not competent to rule on this matter, that it should be the civil jurisdiction to rule on it,” argues the jurist, recalling that “there is currently a process underway in the civil court on this issue.”
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Two factions of the dos Santos family dispute, in the Family Court of the Civil Court of Catalonia, who will take custody of the body of José Eduardo dos Santos.
On one side are Tchizé dos Santos and her older siblings, who oppose the delivery of the remains to the former first lady and are against holding a state funeral before the August 24 elections to avoid political exploitation.
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On the other, there is the widow Ana Paula dos Santos and her three children in common with José Eduardo dos Santos, who also claim the body and want it to be buried in Angola in the near future.
