Arrested in particular for alleged links with the CPC rebels at the height of their offensive a year ago, General Ngaïfé has been in pre-trial detention for almost a year in the prison of the Roux camp in the company of several relatives of François Bozizé. According to his lawyer, Me Arlette Sombo-Dibelé, and the penitentiary services, he contracted Covid-19 for several days and has had serious respiratory problems since Monday. Her lawyer alerted the Central African Legal Services on Tuesday, which she said did not react, which these services deny.
The Director General of Judicial Services Alain Gbaziale ensures that he immediately informed the Minister of Justice on the same day who, in turn, alerted his colleague from Health.
General Ngaïfé was then extracted from the prison and sent to an appropriate care structure where he was taken care of before being brought back to the Roux camp, explains Alain Gbaziale.
” He was given medical examinations and received appropriate treatment. Then we made him reinstate. By Tuesday, the respiratory distress was almost gone and so he was feeling better. And this Wednesday morning, he was feeling even better until the hour we speak. “
The lawyer of the former chief of general staff of the Central African army, who was never made aware of all these steps, is not reassured, however, she said. She believes that the place of a man over 50, suffering from Covid-19 and in respiratory distress is not in prison.
” To have respiratory assistance, Mr. Ngaïfé would have to be admitted to a center where there is respiratory assistance, underlines Me Arlette Sombo-Dibelé. It is not in the camp of Roux or even in the infirmary that he can claim this type of care. I can only worry. “
General Ngaïfé is accused in particular of attacking the internal security of the State or of criminal association. His lawyer believes he is being held in detention solely for political reasons.