The Libreville Court of Appeal sentenced Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo, the wife and son of deposed President Ali Bongo, to 20 years in prison, in the absence of them and their lawyers, mainly for embezzlement of public funds.
The head of the special criminal court, Jean Mexant Essa Assoumou found Sylvia Bongo guilty of “concealment and embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, plunder of funds and incitement of forgery”, and Noureddin Bongo of “embezzlement of public funds, embezzlement, usurpation of property rights and functions, aggravated money laundering and criminal association”.
Both were sentenced in absentia to “20 years criminal imprisonment”. Arrested after the August 30 2023 coup, they were jailed for 20 months in Gabon before being allowed to leave the country as part of a temporary release.
As announced since mid-October, neither Sylvia nor Noureddin Bongo, who has been living in London since their temporary release in May, nor their lawyers appeared at the hearing. “The conditions for a fair and just trial are still not met,” said Noureddin Bongo.
“Defendants who do not appear at the criminal trial will be tried in absentia,” recalled the head of the court, Jean Mexant Essa Assoumou, at the opening of the special criminal trial.
12 defendants appeared at the trial
In the appeal courtroom, nine of the 12 defendants were present. Bongo’s former close collaborators, most of whom were arrested during the coup. They are mainly accused of being involved in embezzlement of public funds, active corruption, extortion, forgery and use of counterfeit money, criminal association and money laundering.
“We were surprised not to see them this morning,” said Attorney General Eddy Minang of the absence of Sylvia and Noureddine Bongo, who he said were “called home” in Libreville in mid-October, which their French lawyer denied.
The civil complaint was filed in France in May 2024 by Ali, Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo, all three of whom are French citizens. They admitted that, while detained in Gabon, they were “repeatedly brutally tortured by soldiers close to President Oligui Nguema”.
