Wife of Gabon’s Deposed Leader Ali Bongo Jailed: Lawyer

Thu Oct 12 2023
icon-facebook icon-twitter icon-whatsapp

LIBREVILLE, Gabon: The wife of Gabon’s deposed president Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest since a coup in the central African country in late August, has been jailed, her lawyer said on Thursday.

Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, suspected of allegedly embezzling public funds, was jailed late on Wednesday, her lawyer Francois Zimeray told AFP, denouncing the “arbitrary… illegal procedure”.

Gabon
Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba (L) and Gabon First Lady Sylvia Bongo Ondimba (2nd L) are seen at the Nzang Ayong stadium in Libreville on July 10, 2023, a day after he announced that he would seek a third term as the oil-rich African nation’s head of state. The Franco-Gabonese wife of Gabon’s former president Ali Bongo Ondimba, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, who has been under house arrest since a military coup at the end of August for alleged misappropriation of public funds, has been jailed, her lawyer said on Thursday. (Photo by Steeve JORDAN / AFP)

Bongo’s wife was charged on September 28 with money laundering, forgery and falsification of records.

She has been under house arrest in Libreville since the day following the military coup that ousted her husband as president.

The military accuses the former head of state and his entourage of falsifying the election results and have openly alleged that his wife has been manipulating him since he suffered a serious stroke in 2018. —AFP

icon-facebook icon-twitter icon-whatsapp