Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, the Franco-Gabonese wife of Gabon’s ex-president Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been imprisoned after being under house arrest since a military coup in August, her lawyer confirmed.
She had been accused of embezzlement of public funds.
Her lawyer, François Zimeray, decried the incarceration as “illegal” and “arbitrary.”
Reports suggest she was placed in Libreville’s central prison after an extended hearing by an examining magistrate.
On September 28, Mrs. Bongo was charged with “money laundering and forgery” and had been under house arrest since the coup on August 30, which ousted her husband.
The military claimed that she had manipulated her husband, who suffered a severe stroke in 2018, and had been effectively leading the country alongside their son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, while allegedly embezzling public funds.
Noureddin Bongo has been in prison since the coup, facing charges of “corruption” and “embezzlement of public funds.”