The wife of the ex-president who was overthrown in a military coup, who was accused in particular of “money laundering and forgery of documents as well as the use of forged documents”, was detained on the night of Thursday, October 12th to Friday, October 13th.
The Franco-Gabonese wife of former Gabonese President Ali Bongo, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, was detained in the central prison of Libreville on the night of Thursday October 12 to Friday October 13. She has been under house arrest since a military coup at the end of August for alleged embezzlement of public funds and was charged on September 28 in particular with “money laundering and forgery of documents and the use of forgery of documents”.
Libreville Central Prison has a bad reputation and is overcrowded. But Sylvia Bongo is “certainly” in the women’s ward, “recently renovated, in a new wing where inmates have their own bed, a bathroom and even a laundry room,” said her lawyer Me Eyue-Bekale. The lawyer requested and received a referral for a hearing within ten days that would allow her to “please for release.”
“As long as there is a difference between justice and arbitrariness, between law and revenge, we will denounce this illegal procedure,” commented François Zimeray, Sylvia Bongo’s French lawyer, from Paris Me.
The former Gabonese first lady, 60, is at the center of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged massive embezzlement of public funds in the company of her son Noureddin Bongo Valentin, who is already imprisoned, as are six of her close former presidential officials, according to consistent judicial sources.
The soldiers who overthrew Ali Bongo by accusing his entourage of rigging his re-election publicly accused the former first lady and Noureddin Bongo of “manipulating” the ex-president, who was suffering from complications from a massive stroke (AVC). to have 2018, and to have been the “real” de facto leaders of the country for five years. Noureddin Bongo has been in prison since the first day of the coup and is particularly accused of “corruption” and “misappropriation of public funds”.
“Bongo Dynasty”
On the night of August 30, less than an hour after the announcement of the re-election of Ali Bongo Ondimba, the army “put an end to the regime.” General Brice Oligui Nguema, leader of the coup, was named president of the transition party two days later. He promised to return power to civilians through elections, but without setting a deadline, and is revered by the vast majority of the population and political class, who applaud the military for ridding them of 55 years of the “Bongo dynasty.” “liberated”.
Ali Bongo was elected in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for more than 41 years. He was placed under house arrest on the day of the coup, but was declared free a week later. The soldiers seemed to quickly exonerate him, assuming he had been “manipulated” by his wife and their son.
On the night of the coup, Noureddin Bongo, as well as several of his young relatives and his mother’s relatives, were arrested in the presidential cabinet and shown at the foot of countless suitcases, suitcases and bags overflowing with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of banknotes, euros confiscated from their homes .
They were subsequently charged and imprisoned, in particular, for “corruption, embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, criminal conspiracy, forging the signature of the President of the Republic and disrupting electoral operations.” Just like two former ministers who are close to Noureddin and Sylvia Bongo.
Thanks to its oil resources, Gabon is the third richest country in Africa per capita, but according to the World Bank, one in three residents lives below the poverty line and on less than two euros per day.