Coup in Gabon: Complaint in France against detention of Sylvia Bongo

Lawyers for Silvia Bongo, the wife of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Franco-Kabonis, were placed under house arrest by the military on Wednesday after they were dismissed. Following a plotReported in Paris on Friday for arbitrary detention, AFP reported Me François Zimeray and Jessica Finelle.

“Concern for their health and safety”

“Mrs. Valentin, wife Bongo, has been deprived of her liberty since August 30, 2023, as has her youngest son Jalil,” the two lawyers said in a statement. Me Zimeray told AFP his client “is being held at an undetermined location in Gabon, which may be his residence”. “No political consideration outside of any legal framework justifies this violence and this secrecy, we are concerned for their health and their safety”, the two councils insist, “requesting” the authorization of diplomatic visits “for the family and especially for Nurredin Bongo Valentin”. , who was forcibly disappeared.

The two lawyers filed a simple complaint with the Paris public prosecutor’s office, mainly targeting crimes such as enforced disappearances and kidnappings by public authorities. Sylvia Bongo, a French citizen, gives jurisdiction to the French judiciary for a possible investigation of these facts. “This procedure may lead to the issuance of an international arrest warrant against the perpetrators of these facts, who are subject to life imprisonment,” the advisory said.

Charged with “high treason”.

Butchist players On Wednesday they declared an “end to the regime” in Gabon and placed them under house arrest. President who has been in power for 14 years, the official declaration of victory in the presidential election was organized on Saturday. The former first lady, Franco-Caponese, along with her son Noureddine, have been the target of accusations from the opposition, civil society and some local media. and was “handled” by some of his “relatives”. Nuredin Bongo Valentine was arrested by the authorities on Wednesday, along with six people close to him and members of the ousted president’s cabinet or the leader of his all-powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). The seven are part of the “young guard” and have been accused by the opposition of being the “real leaders” of the country since Ali Bongo’s recovery.

According to the lawyers, “Noureddin Bongo Valentine is being held in prison at an undisclosed location. The entourage suspects the so-called evidence was fabricated to discredit the family members and legitimize their arrest. In particular, the rulers are accused of “high treason”, “massive embezzlement of public funds” and “forgery of the signature” of the head of state. While announcing these arrests and Ali Bongo’s “house arrest” on Wednesday, the mutinous soldiers said nothing about Sylvia Bongo’s fate.

(AFP)Show comments