Gabon’s former prime minister and opposition figure Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze remained in pre-trial detention on Friday after an appeals court rejected three legal challenges against his detention and the proceedings against him, his lawyer said.
Bilie-By-Nze, an outspoken critic of the government, was arrested last month over allegations of abuse of trust and fraud dating back to 2008.
His party, Together for Gabon, said he was detained under “brutal” and irregular conditions and held for 24 hours without access to legal counsel before being placed in custody.
The former prime minister had sought provisional release while also contesting the detention order and the legal process, but the Libreville Appeals Court dismissed all three appeals.
Following the ruling, his lawyer, Sarah Ognyane, questioned the motives behind the detention.“When I see how he was arrested and placed in custody in front of me, and that all requests are systematically rejected at the prosecutor’s demand, one can reasonably suspect there is something behind this,” she told the media.
The opposition party condemned the ruling as “a particularly grave step in the collapse of the rule of law” and accused the executive branch of tightening control over the judiciary.
The presidency denied any interference in the case, saying the judiciary remained independent.“This is not a matter for the presidency,” presidential spokesman Theophane Nzame‑Nze Biyoghe said.
Bilie-By-Nze, who served under former president Ali Bongo Ondimba, unsuccessfully contested the 2025 presidential election and had criticised government policies including a social media ban and reforms to nationality laws before his arrest.