Gabon’s former President, Ali Bongo, who was deposed in a 2023 coup, has left the country and is now in Angola, the authorities there have announced.
The Angolan presidency added in a statement posted on social media that Bongo’s family had been released from detention and were with him in Luanda.
The Bongo family lawyer, François Zimeray, welcomed the release of his clients and denounced their “arbitrary and cruel imprisonment”.
Bongo’s wife and son, Sylvia and Noureddin, face corruption charges and had been detained since 2023.
They have not yet publicly commented on the charges, however Mr Zimeray described his clients as being “subjected to torture” while being held in what was described as underground cells.
“Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo will now finally be able to turn the page, heal and rebuild their lives,” Mr Zimeray said.
The BBC has contacted Gabon’s presidency for comment on the release and subsequent departure of the Bongo family to Angola.
The authorities have previously denied subjecting the Sylvia Bongo and her son to cruel treatment.
Gabonese prosecutor Eddy Minang says the release of Mrs Bongo and her son is merely provisional, owing to poor health and that legal proceedings against the two will continue.
The family’s release comes after Angolan President João Lourenço, who currently heads the African Union, visited Libreville and held talks with his Gabonese counterpart Brice Oligui Nguema – the former general who led the coup against Bongo before being winning a landslide in last month’s presidential elections.
Ali Bongo, whose father Omar ruled Gabon for more than four decades, was in power for 14 years until the 2023 coup.
After his toppling he was placed under house arrest where he reportedly remained, although Gabonese authorities say he was free to move about as he wished.
His wife and son were detained in prison and then released earlier this week following a request by the Bongo family lawyer, according to Mr Minang.
Reacting to their release, opposition leader Alain Claude Bilie-by-Nze said current President Oligui Nguema had bowed “to international demands after what everyone understood to be an abuse of power”.
Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo both stand accused of embezzling public funds, with Mrs Bongo specifically facing charges of forgery, money laundering and falsifying documents.
During their 14 years in power, the Bongo family had been accused of accumulating wealth for themselves at the expense of the country – allegations they deny.
Despite Gabon being an oil-rich nation, a third of its population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN.
In a sign of warming relations between Gabon and its continental counterparts, the African Union readmitted the country to its bloc late last month after its membership had been suspended due to the coup.
In a statement the body’s chairman, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, said that he hoped “Gabon’s example will inspire similar pathways toward constitutional restoration across the continent”.
The military leaders of West African countries Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have resisted pressure from their neighbours to hand power back to civilians.
Source: BBC
