Gabon court sentences former first lady and son of ex-President to 20 years for corruption
A court in Gabon has handed down a 20-year prison sentence to the former first lady and the son of deposed President Ali Bongo, Sylvia Bongo and Noureddin Bongo, respectively, following a two-day trial.
On the night of Tuesday, November 11, 2025, they were found guilty of embezzlement and corruption in absentia, after a trial that began a day earlier.
The court has ordered them to pay a fine of 100m CFA francs ($177,000; £135,000), with Noureddin Bongo also liable for 1.2tn CFA francs ($2.1; £1.6bn) in financial damages to the Gabonese state.
The prosecution alleged that they exploited President Ali Bongo’s health condition, following his stroke in 2018, to run Gabon for personal gain.
They had denied the charges prior to the trial, describing it as a ‘legal farce.’ Ali Bongo was ousted in a coup led by Brice Oligui Nguema in August 2023, who has since shed his military uniform and been elected president earlier this year.
Following the military takeover, Bongo’s wife and son were detained in Gabon for 20 months before being released in May and permitted to leave the country for London on medical grounds.
The former president is not facing prosecution and was also released from house arrest, where he had reportedly remained, although Gabonese authorities said he was free to move about as he wished.
Separately, a money laundering investigation is underway in Switzerland against Sylvia Bongo, the public prosecutor’s office in the country has told the BBC.
No further details were provided. The BBC has approved Ms Bongo for comment.
Gabonese state prosecutor Eddy Minang on Monday told the court that they were “surprised” not to see the former first lady and her son in court as the trial began.
Noureddin described the conviction as a “rubber-stamping exercise”, saying it had been “predetermined in [Oligui Nguema’s office] a long time ago”.
He said it was “disappointing that a finding of guilt has been made without any semblance of evidence”.
Their conviction comes as a surprise for the unusually swift handling of the case, which they have alleged to be politically motivated. The trial had been expected to last until Friday.
The trial of the other accused will continue. Nine co-accused, former allies of the Bongos, were present in court at the start of the trial, according to reports.
Sylvia Bongo was born in France and holds French nationality, as does her son.
They have claimed they were tortured by the military during their detention in Gabon and filed a case in France in 2024. Gabonese authorities have denied the allegations.
Noureddin was ordered to pay the extra $2.1bn fine due to his role as the General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs, a position that he allegedly used to embezzle this amount of public money.
He was also accused of forgery as he reportedly had the president’s signature and seal, which were allegedly used to siphon funds from the state. He denies all the charges.
The Bongo family ruled Gabon for more than five decades. Ali Bongo was in power for 14 years before he was ousted. He had succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled for 42 years.
Over the years, the family has been accused of amassing wealth for themselves at the expense of the country – allegations they deny.
Despite being an oil-rich nation, about a third of Gabon’s population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN.
Source: BBC.com
