By RFIPalled on 22-08-2019Modified on 22-08-2019 at 01:41
The judge who was to review the request for medical expertise to assess President Ali Bongo's ability to govern after his October 2018 stroke was suspended from office.
The decision to suspend the magistrate comes from the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice and the Interior. In a document dated August 19 and consulted by RFI, he issued a temporary ban on exercising his duties for Paulette Akolly, the president of the court of appeal of Libreville.
The document states that it was illustrated " by a refusal to respect the decision of justice made on July 26, 2019 by the Court of Cassation, attitude that could be likened to a breach of the conveniences of his status as a magistrate. "
► See also: Gabon: the National Day parade dominated by the presence of Ali Bongo
Everything begins on May 4, when a court ruled the opposition's motion out of order, assuring that only the Constitutional Court has the power to find the president's impediment to rule. But on August 12, the Libreville Court of Appeal, presided over by Paulette Akolly, refuses to divest itself of the petition. Yet that is what the Court of Cassation asked him, on the grounds that it would be incompetent to judge this case of medical expertise. Despite this, Paulette Akolly sets a hearing for August 26th .
A hearing that seems compromised today as the judge will no longer be able to serve until September 30th.
The Gabonese president has not spoken live and in public since he said a few words on his return to Libreville in late March, after five months of convalescence abroad. A silence that prompted some of the opposition to ask for this review .
On the same subject
Gabon: Ali Bongo at the National Day parade
Gabon: President Bongo's request for medical expertise examined on 26 August
Gabon: Ali Bongo's Speech Reacts Policies
Gabon: Ali Bongo urges Prime Minister to form new government
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