Gabon’s former first lady Sylvia Bongo and son Noureddin given jail terms for corruption

A court in Gabon has sentenced the former first lady and the son of deposed President Ali Bongo to 20 years in jail following a two-day trial.

On Tuesday night, Sylvia Bongo and Noureddin Bongo were found guilty of embezzlement and corruption after a trial that began a day earlier in their absence.

They were both fined 100m CFA francs ($177,000; £135,000), with Noureddin ordered to pay an extra 1.2tn CFA francs ($2.1; £1.6bn) for financial damages suffered by the Gabonese state.

They were accused of exploiting Ali Bongo’s condition after he suffered a stroke in 2018 to run Gabon for their own personal profit. They denied the charges ahead of their trial, describing it as “a legal farce.”

Ali Bongo was ousted in an August 2023 coup led by Brice Oligui Nguema, who has since shed his military uniform and was elected president earlier this year.

Following the military takeover, Bongo’s wife and son were detained in Gabon for 20 months before being released in May and permitted to leave the country for London on medical grounds.

The former president is not facing prosecution and was also released from house arrest where he had reportedly remained, although Gabonese authorities said he was free to move about as he wished.

Gabonese state prosecutor Eddy Minang on Monday told the court that they were “surprised” not to see the former first lady and her son in court as the trial began.

Despite the sentencing of the two, the trial of the other accused will continue until Friday, local reporters have told the BBC. Nine other co-accused, former allies of the Bongos, were present in court at the start of the trial, according to reports.

The Bongo family ruled Gabon for more than five decades. Ali Bongo was in power for 14 years before he was ousted. He had succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled for 42 years.

Over the years, the family has been accused of amassing wealth for themselves at the expense of the country – allegations they deny.

Despite being an oil-rich nation, about a third of Gabon’s population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN.