Isabel dos Santos, once Africa’s richest woman, with some of her siblings, will allow Dos Santos's body to be returned to Angola for a state funeral after a general election takes place on August 24.
In exchange, Isabel dos Santos, once Africa’s richest woman, with some of her siblings, will allow Dos Santos’s body to be returned to Angola for a state funeral after a general election takes place on August 24, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Tuesday, citing a letter from the former leader’s children.
A spokesman for Isabel dos Santos in Lisbon verified the letter.
Eldest children of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos are demanding an end to all criminal cases against them- In exchange, Isabel dos Santos & some of her siblings, will allow Dos Santos’s body to be returned to Angola for a state funeral
— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) July 19, 2022
https://t.co/4aMKHk2xDl
They have demanded an apology for the way their father was treated after being replaced by his defence minister, Joao Lourenco, at the helm of Africa’s second-biggest oil producer in 2017.
Lourenco vowed to clamp down on corruption and authorities targeted Dos Santos’s family and close allies. Isabel dos Santos was fired as chairwoman of state-owned oil company Sonangol and her accounts and assets in Angola and Portugal have been frozen. Her half brother, Jose Filomeno, was prosecuted on charges of taking part in an illegal $500 million transfer abroad toward the end of his father’s 38-year rule. They deny wrongdoing.
Lourenco is running for a second term as president and a state funeral for Dos Santos before the vote could help bolster support for the ruling party.
Dos Santos died on July 8 at a hospital in Barcelona, where he had been receiving medical treatment for a prolonged illness.
Bloomberg