Former Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was ousted in a 2023 military coup, has been released from house arrest and relocated to Angola along with his family, the Angolan presidency announced on Friday.
Bongo had been under house arrest in Libreville since his removal from power in August 2023, ending his family’s 55-year rule over the oil-rich nation. His wife Sylvia and son Noureddin, who were also detained on corruption charges, accompanied him to Luanda.
Photographs shared by Angola’s presidency on Facebook showed the Bongo family being received at an airport in Luanda. The release reportedly followed discussions between Angolan President João Lourenço and Gabon’s transitional leader, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.
Nguema, the former head of the Republican Guard, led the coup and recently assumed the presidency after securing 94.85% of the vote in the April 12 election. International observers reported no major irregularities during the election.
Critics, including former Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, condemned the Bongos’ initial detention as unlawful and said the release came under international pressure. “President Oligui did not show clemency—he simply responded to international demands after a clear abuse of power,” By Nze stated.
Human rights lawyers for Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo allege the two were tortured during their detention. Recent local reports claimed they had been moved from detention to a residence in Libreville.
Transitional parliament member Geoffroy Foumboula Libeka called the unpublicized release a “real disgrace,” questioning Gabon’s sovereignty and suggesting the move was part of the conditions for Gabon’s readmission into the African Union. The AU lifted sanctions on April 30.
Bongo, 66, took office in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for over four decades. Ali Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018 and was rarely seen in public afterward. He was deposed shortly after being declared the winner of a widely disputed 2023 presidential election.
