Gabon ex-leader's wife, son will not return to Libreville for trial

LIBREVILLE - Gabon's former first lady and the son of the country's deposed leader Ali Bongo will not return to Libreville to face trial for embezzlement of public funds, their French lawyer said on Wednesday.

Sylvia Bongo and her son Noureddin are on conditional bail in London following the August 2023 coup that toppled the Bongo dynasty which had ruled the oil-rich country for over half a century.

"Sylvia and Noureddin (Bongo) cannot be expected to return to the custody of their tormentors," Pierre-Olivier Sur said in a statement, calling next month's hearing "a show trial".

The pair are scheduled to go on trial in the Gabonese capital on November 10.

But their lawyers said that was "procedurally unrealistic", partly because neither of the defendants had formally received a summons at their London address.

Rather, they said they "learned through the press" about the trial dates.

Sur and Francois Zimeray, who is also part of the legal team, said they would write to Gabon's attorney general, accusing the government of aggressively pressuringthe judiciary for political ends.

POLITICAL PRESSURE?

Last July, the Bongo family circulated a video showing a Gabonese judge in charge of their case admitting to "pressure" from "members of the military junta" to pursue the charges.

"We understand that Gabonese prosecutors and judges are acting under considerable pressure and feel the urgent need to appease President (Brice) Oligui Nguema with a quick show trial, regardless of whether it adheres to the procedures prescribed by law,"said Sur.

"In reality, this is a real persecution of judges and lawyers by the executive, in flagrant breach of all the major principles of a fair trial."

Sylvia Bongo, 62, was placed under house arrest since Oligui led the coup, then jailed on suspicion of having embezzled public funds.

She was charged in September that year with money laundering, forgery and falsification of records.

The coup brought the curtain down on 55 years of rule by the Bongo family in the central African nation.

Mother and son, who both hold French citizenship, were accused of having manipulated the former president, who suffered a serious stroke in 2018, and had effectively run Gabon for their own ends.

Noureddin Bongo, 33, was also held in custody.

He and his mother were released in May and allowed to leavethe country, claiming that they were tortured repeatedly by soldiers close to Oligui.

They have filed a case in France for arbitrary detention and torture.

Oligui, who officially became the country's president in mid-April, denied in late March any form of torture and promised that Sylvia and Noureddin would be subject to a "fair trial".