Gabon’s former first lady, Sylvia Bongo, and her son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, have been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison after a two-day trial in Libreville.
The special criminal court found the pair guilty of embezzling and concealing public funds, money laundering, forgery, and criminal association. The court’s late Tuesday ruling also included an international arrest warrant and ordered them to pay millions of dollars in damages for what it described as “crimes against the Gabonese state.”
In response, Valentin decried the verdict as politically motivated, saying it had long been “predetermined” under President Oligui Nguema’s government and calling the trial a “simple formality.”
READ ALSO: The U.S. wants a judge’s approval to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia
Sylvia Bongo and her son were among the most powerful figures during former President Ali Bongo’s 14-year rule. Their influence grew after Ali Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018, with witnesses testifying that Valentin effectively directed operations from the presidential palace during his father’s illness.
Prosecutors accused the two of exploiting the former president’s condition to gain control over state finances. Evidence presented in court included photos of two private jets allegedly bought with laundered money, as well as properties in London and Morocco.
“They reigned unchallenged, and tried to pass themselves off as victims of the system they shaped,” said Eddy Minang, prosecutor general at the Libreville Court of Appeal.
After Ali Bongo was deposed in a 2023 coup that ended the family’s 56-year hold on power, both Sylvia and Noureddin were detained for nearly 20 months before being allowed to leave Gabon.
READ ALSO: Supreme Court keeps SNAP payments frozen as shutdown nears possible end
Now living in London and holding French citizenship, the Bongos refused to take part in the trial, AP reported.
