LIBREVILLE, Gabon
Former President of Gabon, Ali Bongo and his two youngest sons, Jalil and Bilal, have started a hunger strike to protest their "sequestration" and alleged "acts of torture" against family members. Their lawyers announced early this week, stating a lawsuit has been filed in the Paris Judicial Court.
Lawyers François Zimeray and
Catalina de la Sota aim to have a French judge investigate these allegations,
especially as Gabon's leader since the August 2023 coup, General Brice Oligui
Nguema, plans to visit Paris soon.
An earlier complaint by Ali
Bongo’s wife, Sylvia Bongo, filed on September 1, two days after the coup, was
dismissed in October. The new complaint alleges "illegal arrest,
aggravated sequestration with torture, and barbaric acts" against Ali, Sylvia,
and their sons Noureddin, Jalil, and Bilal, noting that the first four are
French nationals.
The lawyers claim Noureddin
has been tortured multiple times, and Sylvia was beaten and forced to witness
these acts. Ali, Jalil, and Bilal are under house arrest, deprived of
communication, and also tortured.
In March, the lawyers
requested a UN working group to recognize the Bongos' "arbitrary
detention" post-coup. General Nguema, who ended 55 years of the Bongo
dynasty, was declared transitional president by the military shortly after the
August 30 coup.
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