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Gabon releases over 100 political prisoners

Xinhua, January 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gabon's judiciary Friday decided to release 101 opposition supporters detained at Librevile's main prison since Dec. 23, 2014 for participating in an unauthorized opposition meeting, a judicial source said.

All the detainees were found not guilty of being armed at the meeting, the charge for which they had been detained. However, some were given a prison sentence ranging from three to four months, yet others will have to pay a fine of 180,000 CFA Francs (about 300 U.S. dollars).

Expatriates with Nigerian nationality, prosecuted in the same case, will be expelled from Gabon and banned from living on Gabonese national territory for five years. They will also be required to pay the fine of 180,000 CFA Francs.

The prosecutor had requested for a three year sentence, but the suspects' lawyers said their clients were innocent and should be released immediately.

The opposition meeting was meant to push President Ali Bongo Ondimba to resign from power. The president came to power in 2009 after an election organized for the succession of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba.

The opposition planned to use the meeting "to end the reign of the Bongos since 1967" through a popular revolt. Endi