Gabon’s ex-president Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was overthrown in a coup last year, has said he is withdrawing from political life and asked for clemency for his imprisoned wife and son who he said face “violence” and “torture”.
Bongo ruled the oil-rich West African nation for 14 years until he was overthrown by military leaders in August last year moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.
The deposed leader, whose family dynasty held power in Gabon for 55 years, has been living in his private estate in the capital Libreville since. According to the government, the 65-year-old is free to leave the country.
“I would like to reaffirm my withdrawal from political life and the definitive renunciation of any national ambition,” Bongo said in a message sent to the media overnight Wednesday to Thursday.
“I would never wish to constitute a risk of threat, unrest and destabilisation for Gabon,” he added in the message sent by his Gabonese lawyer Gisele Eyue Bekale to media outlets, including AFP.
He also said he called for “appeasement, the end of violence and torture against my family” especially his wife Sylvia, 61, and their eldest son Noureddin, 32.
Both are being held at Libreville’s central prison over embezzlement allegations, in conditions denounced by their lawyers.
– ‘Unable to move freely’ –
Bongo called for their release, saying they had been imprisoned for too long over acts for which they had not been found guilty.
But he also admitted “failings” in the way he ran the country.
He said he “accepts sole responsibility, both on a social level and with regard to the functioning of our institutions.”
He also urged the country “to renounce vengeance”.
Noureddin Bongo is accused of corruption and embezzling public funds, while his mother is accused of money laundering, concealment and forgery.
The new government under General Brice Oligui Nguema accuses them of “manipulating” the weakened head of state after Ali Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018.
Lawyers for the Bongo family in May said they had lodged a complaint in France over the torture and detention of the ex-president, his wife and three sons.
Gabon’s military-led government denies the claims which it has called “slanderous”.
“I myself remain unable to move freely and am subject to daily surveillance,” Bongo said in his message written in French.
“My visits depend on authorisation from the military,” adding that he was “isolated from the outside world without communications, without news of my family.”
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