This is an unprecedented trial which opens this Monday in France. Pascaline Bongo is on trial at the Paris Judicial Court. Daughter of the late Gabonese President Omar Bongo and sister of Ali Bongo, the former head of state deposed by a coup in August, is accused of passive corruption of a foreign public official. She is suspected of having intervened, in exchange for money, to help a French company win a public contract in Gabon.
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Usually discreet, Pascaline Bongo will find herself in the spotlight, since she will be present at her trial. The Bongos’ eldest daughter is suspected of a “fictitious partnership” with the French company Egis and in particular its subsidiary Route. For Pascaline Bongo, it was a question of helping the company to participate in the creation of the National Agency for Major Works of Gabon.
This entity, set up by her brother Ali Bongo, supervised major infrastructure projects such as roads and stadiums. In exchange for her help, Pascaline Bongo would have received 8 million euros. Two former Egis Route executives as well as the current sales director are also among the accused.
Pascaline Bongo’s lawyer says to herself “ very serene “. She describes this affair as a “ legal nonsense “. Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt denounces “ problems of prescription, competence, or even qualification ” facts. For her, the investigation rushed to bring a well-known personality to the stand at all costs.
She is not afraid of facing French justice. She wants to show that she has nothing to be ashamed of. She feels this a bit like a desire to pursue her at all costs, for what she represents.
Me Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, lawyer for Pascaline Bongo
Transparency International will be an observer. The anti-corruption NGO describes an important trial, particularly because Pascaline Bongo is high up in the hierarchy of the family clan. Sara Brimbeuf, head of the illicit financial flow division, points out that trials for corruption of a foreign public official are rare in France. This case will therefore help “ to advance the law, clarify interpretations and shed light on possible offenses “, she says.
It is important for us to follow the debates, to better understand what is being criticized. We are talking about Pascaline Bongo, someone high up in the Bongo clan. The debates will be extremely interesting to also understand the context of corruption suspected, accused and prosecuted in numerous cases, particularly in France.
Sara Brimbeuf, head of the illicit financial flows division at Transparency International
Read alsoGabonese “ill-gotten gains”: French justice confirms the indictment of Pascaline Bongo