Overview
- After a two-day hearing in Libreville, judges found the former first lady and her son guilty of embezzlement of public funds and related offenses.
- They left Gabon in May on medical grounds under conditional bail and did not attend the proceedings.
- The defendants have filed a complaint in France alleging torture during roughly 20 months of detention, an allegation the current government denies.
- Ex-president Ali Bongo is not being prosecuted in the case, which stems from investigations launched after the August 2023 coup.
- Trials of about ten former allies continue this week, with prosecutors saying testimony described a system that diverted public money to private interests.