Gabon’s former prime minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze remains in pre-trial detention after a court rejected three appeals on Friday, his lawyer said.
He was arrested last month over alleged abuse of trust and fraud dating back to 2008, with investigations ongoing authorities.
His party Together for Gabon denounced brutal and irregular arrest conditions including 24 hours without access to lawyers before custody.
Bilie-By-Nze sought provisional release and challenged his detention order and proceedings, but all appeals were rejected by Libreville appeals court.
After the ruling his lawyer Sarah Ognyane cast doubt on the reasons for his detention in statement to AFP agency.
She said the circumstances and repeated rejection of defence requests raised questions about the judicial process in her view system.
The party denounced a grave step in collapse of rule of law, accusing executive branch of tightening grip over judiciary.
The presidency rejected any interference insisting the judiciary was independent, with spokesperson Theophane Nzame-Nze Biyoghe reaffirming institutional separation principle stance.
Bilie-By-Nze served under former president Ali Bongo and ran 2025 election, criticised social media ban and nationality reforms before arrest.