Lawyers for Alain Claude Bilie By Nze claim their client remains incarcerated after more than three months due to a long-standing private dispute. In an official statement, they argue that a 2008 disagreement involving around €7,600 has been weaponized to justify his detention. The opposition party Together for Gabon contends he faces charges of fraud and breach of trust. Bilie By Nze previously served as Prime Minister before General Brice Oligui Nguema’s August 2023 coup, following which he ran in the presidential election that the general won.

Concerns over detention conditions and legal process

The opposition leader’s legal representatives describe his confinement in a five-square-meter cell without natural light at a Libreville prison facility. They also highlight a 100-day period of solitary confinement they describe as politically motivated and arbitrary. The defense reports never receiving access to the case file, with the investigating judge allegedly claiming the documents were no longer available. A June 2 appeal to dismiss the case was rejected by Libreville’s appellate court. “A man is jailed based on evidence his defense has never been permitted to review,” stated lawyer Arthur Vercken in the team’s statement. The 2023 coup ended over half a century of Bongo family rule, after which Brice Oligui Nguema was elected president in a vote framed by authorities as part of the transition back to civilian governance. Bilie By Nze’s imprisonment arrives amid ongoing institutional restructuring following this political shift.