Gabon's main opposition leader placed in pre-trial detention

Gabon authorities arrested the country's main opposition leader, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, and his political party yesterday.[AFP]

Gabon's former prime minister and main opposition leader was placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday night, according to sources cited by AFP.

Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, arrested in his home on Wednesday evening, is under investigation for alleged fraud and breach of trust, prosecutor Dick Fabrice Boungou Mikolo said in a statement.

A senior member of Bilie-By-Nze's party, speaking on condition of anonymity, and a source close to the case both told AFP the vocal government critic was taken into custody Thursday evening.

According to a statement from his party, Ensemble pour le Gabon (EPG), which described the arrest as "brutal and clearly against the basic principles of the rule of law", the case dates back to 2008.

The prosecutor said the investigation follows a complaint filed by a Gabonese citizen "implicating" Bilie‑By‑Nze.

"The alleged facts concern the non‑repayment of a sum of five million CFA francs (around 7,625 euros) which he is said to have received following the organisation of a cultural festival, the prosecutor added.

The EPG said the case was linked to debt the Gabonese state failed to pay at the time,  when Bilie-By-Nze was head of the festival's organising committee.

It said a third party is now demanding payment, "imputing it personally to Alain‑Claude Bilie‑By‑Nze, even though he was acting in an institutional framework".