A Gabon court has sentenced former President Ali Bongo’s wife, Sylvia Bongo, and their son, Noureddin Bongo, to 20 years in prison for embezzlement and corruption.
The trial, which lasted only two days, found them guilty in absentia, with Sylvia fined 100m CFA francs ($177,000; £135,000) and Noureddin ordered to pay an additional 1.2tn CFA francs ($2.1; £1.6bn) in financial damages to the Gabonese state.
The accusations centered on exploiting Ali Bongo’s condition after his 2018 stroke to run Gabon for personal gain. They denied the charges, calling the trial a “legal farce”.
The Bongo family, who ruled Gabon for over 50 years, has been accused of amassing wealth at the expense of the country, despite Gabon being an oil-rich nation with a third of its population living below the poverty line.
Ali Bongo was ousted in an August 2023 coup led by Brice Oligui Nguema, who has since become president. The former president is not facing prosecution and has been released from house arrest.
The trial of nine other co-accused, former allies of the Bongos, continues.
