Alain Claude Bilie By Nze’s attorneys maintain that his prolonged detention is unjustified, linking it to an outdated private dispute. In their statement, they highlight a 2008 disagreement over approximately €7,600, which they claim was exploited to justify his arrest. The opposition party Ensemble pour le Gabon asserts that he faces allegations of fraud and breach of trust. Bilie By Nze previously served as Prime Minister before General Brice Oligui Nguema’s 2023 coup, which ended the Bongo family’s decades-long rule. He later ran in the presidential election won by Oligui Nguema but failed to overturn the outcome.

Detention conditions and procedural concerns spark outrage

The opposition leader’s lawyers describe his confinement in a five-square-meter cell in Libreville, devoid of natural light, and report a 100-day period of solitary confinement they deem politically motivated. The defense also raises concerns about denied access to case files, claiming the investigating judge no longer possesses the documents. A procedural dismissal request filed by the lawyers was rejected on June 2 by the Libreville appeals court. “A man remains imprisoned without his legal team ever seeing the case file,” stated attorney Arthur Vercken in a public statement. The August 2023 coup marked the end of over 50 years of Bongo family governance, with Brice Oligui Nguema subsequently elected president in a vote the transitional authorities framed as a step toward civilian rule. Bilie By Nze’s detention unfolds amid a politically charged climate of institutional restructuring following this leadership shift.