Gabonese opposition figure Bilie-By-Nze remains in detention after appeal rejected
via SeneNews2 min read
Former Prime Minister and leading Gabonese opposition figure Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze remains in detention after the Libreville Court of Appeal rejected his request to nullify the proceedings. His lawyer, Arthur Vercken, stated that Bilie-By-Nze, president of the Together for Gabon party, has been incarcerated since April 16 as part of an investigation into alleged breach of trust and fraud dating back to 2008. His lawyers argue that the statute of limitations applied in 2011 and denounce the procedure as flawed and the detention as arbitrary, asserting that the alleged facts lack serious criminal qualification. Vercken stated that this situation constitutes a serious violation of Gabonese law, fundamental guarantees of a fair trial, and Gabon's international commitments, demanding his immediate release from Libreville central prison. According to his party, Bilie-By-Nze was apprehended under "brutal, irregular, and contrary to the elementary principles of the rule of law" conditions, then "held incommunicado for 24 hours, without access to his lawyers," before being placed under a committal order. Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema, in an interview on France 24, defended the independence of the judiciary and denied any executive intervention in the case. Bilie-By-Nze, who served as Prime Minister under Ali Bongo from 2009 to 2023 and was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2025 presidential election against Oligui Nguema, was arrested after speaking out against the suspens
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