Former Gabonese leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was arrested after being overthrown in a coup in 2023, has been freed and has landed in Luanda with his family, according to a statement from Angola’s presidency on Friday.
Bongo, whose family governed Gabon for 55 years, had been placed under house arrest in the capital, Libreville, following his removal from power in August 2023. His wife and son were also detained, facing accusations of embezzlement of public funds.
A post on the Angolan presidency’s Facebook account about the Bongo family’s arrival in Luanda included photos of the former leader being greeted at an airport.
The “Bongo family has been released and has just arrived in Luanda,” it said.
The family’s release came after discussions between Angola’s President João Lourenço and Gabon’s new leader, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, although the statement did not provide further details.
Oligui, a former military leader, took control of the resource-rich nation during the August 2023 coup that ended the Bongo dynasty’s 55-year reign.
He was inaugurated earlier this month after receiving 94.85 per cent of the vote in an April 12 election that international observers noted had no significant irregularities.
Oligui’s main opponent, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, the last prime minister under Bongo, commented that the family’s release indicated their detention “did not conform to the rules of law and justice.”
Attorneys representing Bongo’s French-born wife, Sylvia, 62, and son, Noureddin, 33, claimed they experienced torture during their detention.
Recent reports from several Gabonese media outlets indicated they had been relocated from cells in a presidential annexe to a family residence in Libreville.
