Sylvia Bongo, wife of Ali Bongo, files a complaint in France against the putschists

INTERNATIONAL – The political situation remains uncertain in Gabon. Following a military coup, former President Ali Bongo was placed under house arrest. This Friday, September 1, the lawyers of his wife, Sylvia Bongo, filed a complaint in France for arbitrary detention.

“Mrs. Valentin, wife Bongo, has been deprived of her freedom since the putsch of August 30, 2023, as has her youngest son Jalil”while another son, Nourredin Bongo Valentin, is imprisoned in an undisclosed location.worry the two lawyers Me François Zimeray and Jessica Finelle in a press release.

Me Zimeray told AFP that his client is “ retained in an undetermined place in Gabon, which could be his residence”. “No political consideration justifies this violence and this secrecy outside any legal framework, we are worried for their health and safety”insist the two councils, which “ require » permission to “ consular visits for the family and in particular for Nourredin Bongo Valentin, who could be the victim of an enforced disappearance”.

A complaint before the French courts

The two lawyers filed a simple complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office, mainly targeting the crimes of enforced disappearance and kidnapping by public officials. The French nationality of Sylvia Bongo gives jurisdiction to French justice for a possible investigation into these facts. “ This procedure could lead to the issuance of an international arrest warrant against the perpetrators of these acts, who incur life imprisonment.hope the advice.

Putschist soldiers announced on Wednesday that they had put “ end to the regime in place” in Gabon and having placed the president in power for 14 years under house arrest, just after the official announcement of his victory in the presidential election organized on Saturday.

The former First Lady, Franco-Gabonese, was regularly the target, with her son Noureddin, of accusations from the opposition, civil society and certain local media when they claimed that, since his stroke, Ali Bongo was very weakened by its sequelae and “ manipulated » by some of his relatives “.

Noureddin Bongo Valentin was arrested on Wednesday by the putschists, as were six other men close to him and members of the ousted president’s cabinet or at the head of his all-powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). All seven are part of the “ young guard » accused by the opposition of being the “ true leaders” of the country since Ali Bongo’s return from convalescence.

According to the lawyers, Nourredin Bongo Valentin is imprisoned in an undisclosed location. The entourage suspects the putschists of fabricating so-called evidence aimed at discrediting the family members and legitimizing their arrest.. The putschists accuse them in particular of “ high treason ““ massive embezzlement of public funds” And “ falsification of signature » of the head of state.

The mutinous soldiers, by announcing on Wednesday these arrests and the placement of Ali Bongo in “ surviving residence “said nothing of the fate of Sylvia Bongo.

See also on The HuffPost: