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Gabon: Ousted President’s Son, Allies Detained on Treason, Graft Charges
The state prosecutor disclosed on Wednesday that Noureddin Bongo Valentin, the eldest son of Ali Bongo Ondimba, and several associates of the deposed Gabonese president, have been formally charged with high treason and corruption.
They have been placed in custody, according to Libreville prosecutor Andre-Patrick Roponat.
The charges against them encompass a wide range of offences, including high treason against state institutions, substantial embezzlement of public funds, falsification of the president’s signature, corruption, and drug trafficking.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had held power in the oil-rich Central African nation since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders on August 30, shortly after being declared the winner in a presidential election.
Read Also: Gabon: Ousted president released, permitted to travel for treatment
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The outcome was denounced as fraudulent by both the opposition and the leaders of the military coup, who also accused his administration of widespread corruption and poor governance.
On the same day as the coup, soldiers apprehended one of Bongo’s sons, five high-ranking cabinet officials, and his wife Sylvia Bongo Valentin.
National television broadcast footage of the detainees alongside suitcases allegedly containing confiscated cash from their residences.
Sylvia Bongo Valentin is currently under house arrest in the capital city of Libreville, purportedly for her own safety, as stated by authorities. Her legal representatives assert that her detention is “arbitrary.”
Following the coup, Ali Bongo Ondimba, who himself was subjected to house arrest for several days, was declared by the country’s new military leader General Brice Oligui Nguema on September 6 to be “free to move around” and travel abroad.
