Overview

• Ali Bongo and his family, detained since the August 2023 coup, have been released and flown to Angola under Angolan mediation.
• The family’s release comes after talks between Angola's President João Lourenço and Gabon's President Brice Oligui Nguema.
• The African Union had called for the release of the Bongo family as part of Gabon’s readmission to the organization in April 2025.
• President Oligui Nguema, who led the 2023 coup, was sworn in for a seven-year term after winning nearly 95% of the vote in April 2025.
• The Bongo family’s detention had drawn allegations of torture, which Oligui’s administration has denied, and criticism over legal irregularities.