According to Sylvia Bongo’s attorney, the process used to jail her on suspicion of embezzling public monies is “illegal” and “arbitrary.”
Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, the wife of President Ali Bongo, who was overthrown in a recent coup, has been imprisoned by Gabon’s new military rulers. The former first lady was jailed on Wednesday after being charged with forgery and money laundering late last month, according to local media.
Following a protracted rehearing by an examining magistrate on Wednesday, Sylvia Bongo allegedly received a committal order and was imprisoned at the primary prison in the nation’s capital, Libreville.
The former first lady was accused of embezzling public funds, according to her attorney Francois Zimeray, who spoke to French news source AFP on Thursday. She had been placed under house arrest since the military takeover on August 30.
Zimeray referred to the choice to lock her up as “arbitrary” and “illegal.”
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Following a coup and the annulment of the country’s contested presidential election in August, Ali Bongo, who had been in power for 14 years, was placed under house arrest. With 64.27% of the vote, the incumbent president was proclaimed the victor, giving him a third term to lead the country of Central Africa after taking over for his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled there since 1967.
The former president of Gabon was released from detention and allowed to depart the country, according to a statement made by the country’s new leadership last month.
In October 2018, Bongo experienced a serious stroke that left him unable to move his right arm or leg. Sylvia Bongo was suspected by the coup leaders of “manipulating” her husband, who they believed was still recovering from a stroke, as well as of “massively embezzling public funds” with other government officials.
The coup leaders have also accused her son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, of corruption and theft; he has been detained pending trial since August.
When Sylvia Bongo came before the judges on Wednesday, she asserted that she was not a Gabonese citizen and refuted all of the accusations made against her, according to the Gabon Review.
