The wife and son of the ex-President of Gabon have been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted in their absence of corruption and embezzlement charges.
Former First Lady Sylvia Bongo and her son Noureddin were convicted after just two days of a trial in the Gabonese capital of Libreville, after being accused of plundering the state finances.
Ahead of the trial, Mr Bongo denounced it as an “illegal show trial”, and he called the convictions a “rubber stamping exercise”.
Noureddin’s grandfather Omar Bongo ruled Gabon for 42 years, and on his death in 2009 his son Ali took over as President.
The family were ousted from power in an August 2023 coup led by military leader General Brice Oligui Nguema, once a close ally of Ali Bongo and part of his extended family.
Noureddin, who is Eton educated and lives in London, and his mother were then detained for 20 months by the coup leaders, and say they were subjected to brutal torture.
They have accused the new Gabon rulers of torture and illegal detention, in separate legal proceedings in the French courts.
Noureddin and his wife Lea spoke exclusively to The Standard earlier this year, detailing his time in prison, the torture allegations, and their efforts to rebuild their life in London.
Reacting to news of the Gabon court’s conclusion on Tuesday night, Noureddin said: "This verdict was predetermined in the office of President Oligui Nguema a long time ago - today was merely a rubber-stamping exercise.
"By speaking out about the torture we suffered during 20-months of arbitrary detention, we have angered the president, and this is the only way he knows how to respond.
"While it is disappointing that a finding of guilt has been made without any semblance of evidence, it is perhaps not surprising given that the legal establishment in Gabon now live in fear of their lives, and the witnesses testifying have in some cases been tortured themselves.
"We remain confident that the court in Paris hearing our torture complaint separately will vindicate us. This story is not yet over."
Allies of the Bongo family are also on trial in the Libreville court, with the case now expected to continue until the end of the week.
Noureddin Bongo told The Standard he does not ever expect to return to Gabon, or even visit the continent of Africa again, because of the threat of arrest, detention, and torture.
He and his mother were found guilty in absence of embezzlement and corruption. They were both handed 20-year jail terms, ordered to pay 100 million francs, and Noureddin was also ordered to pay an extra 1.2 trillion francs in compensation to the Gabonese state.
It was alleged that they exploited Ali Bongo’s ill-health after a 2018 stroke to access the Gabonese state wealth.
In his interview with The Standard, Noureddin fiercely denied the corruption allegations being levelled against him, and said in detention he faced repeated questioning over investments and bank accounts which did not exist.
He says he was subjected to violent beatings, torture sessions in front of his mother, and threats were made against his wife.
He and his mother were ultimately permitted to leave the country, to Angola and then back to his wife and children in London, earlier this year.
Noureddin had also managed to covertly film some of the interrogations he faced in custody with a set of spy glasses, and he filmed one of the guards allegedly confessing to torture. He says release of this footage has sparked retribution by Oligui’s regime.
Ali Bongo was held under house arrest after the coup, but has not faced criminal proceedings.
Noureddin, a French national who has spent much of his life in London, says he had returned to Gabon for a brief period to aid his father in his re-election campaign in 2023, when Ali was suffering from ill health.
He says he was preparing to return to London when the coup happened, on the night that his father had just been elected for a third term of office.
Gabon is an oil rich nation, and the former rulers, particularly Omar Bongo, faced sustained claims of using the country’s wealth for personal enrichment.
