Ousted Gabon President, Ali Bongo Released From House Arrest Says Junta

Ali Bongo Ondimba, Gabon’s former president, has been released from house detention and is now free to leave the nation for medical care.

In a statement delivered on national television on Wednesday evening, Gabon military spokesperson Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi said the former president may “travel abroad for medical checkups” due to his condition.

Bongo had been under house arrest since the country’s military coup on August 30. His regime was deposed shortly after he was declared the winner of contentious elections that would have extended his 14-year presidency.

“Given his state of health, the former President of the Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba is free to move about. He may, if he wishes, travel abroad for medical checkups,” Manfoumbi said.

The statement announcing Bongo’s release from house arrest was signed by General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabon’s new president, was sworn in on Monday.

Oligui, Bongo’s cousin, was a bodyguard for Bongo’s late father and also led the country’s republican guard, an elite military unit.

Bongo now has the choice to leave the nation, according to AlJazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Dakar, Senegal.

Bongo had a stroke five years ago and has had no access to his own doctors, according to Haque.

“But for his family, it’s another issue. His wife was held on the fourth floor of the presidential palace with his son Noureddin; all of whom are accused of high treason,” Haque said.

And, according to Nguema, the country’s new leader, they will face punishment because they have been accused of stealing money from state coffers, Haque added.

On Monday, after taking the oath of office in the presidential palace, Oligui declared that the military had seized control of the country without violence and that it will return power to the people through credible and free elections.

The coup was praised by Gabonese citizens, but it was condemned by the African Union and the world community.