Gabon's former prime minister in pre-trial detention following arrest

Gabon’s former prime minister and leading opposition figure, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, has been placed in pre-trial detention following his arrest on Wednesday.

He is under investigation over allegations of fraud and breach of trust linked to a 2008 national cultural festival for which he was one of the organisers.

The prosecutor said a service provider, who claims they have not been paid for their role in the event, had filed a complaint “implicating” the former premier.

"The alleged facts concern the non‑repayment of a sum of five million CFA francs (around $9,000) which he is said to have received,” the prosecutor added.

The case has sparked criticism from his Ensemble pour le Gabon (EPG) party, which said the move was politically motivated.

It said the case was linked to debt the Gabonese state failed to pay at the time and "imputing it personally” to Bilie‑By‑Nze, “even though he was acting in an institutional framework".

It described the arrest of the vocal government critic as “arbitrary, brutal, and manifestly contrary to the fundamental principles of the rule of law”.

Bilie-By-Nze was the last prime minister for former Gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was ousted in a military coup in August 2023.

Following the takeover, he emerged as a central figure in the political opposition and was runner up in the last election, losing to the junta leader Brice Oligui Nguema