Gabon: 15 years in prison for three soldiers responsible for the failed coup of 2019
Image of soldiers reading their press release on Gabonese radio and television, January 7, 2019. AFP / YOUTUBE
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
At the end of a hearing that lasted until the wee hours of Thursday, July 1, 2021, the Special Military Court sentenced Lieutenant Kelly Ondo to 15 years in prison, as well as two members of the Republican Guard.
The three men are condemned for their role in the attempted coup d'état of January 2019. The lawyers of the defendants are already announcing appeals in cassation.
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With our correspondent in Libreville,
Yves-Laurent Goma
For attack on the internal security of the State, criminal association and theft, Lieutenant Kelly Ondo, head of the commando member of the Republican Guard, risked very big.
In his requisitions, the public prosecutor demanded against them life imprisonment and a fine of 100 million CFA francs.
However, the court did not follow his requisitions and the three young officers were sentenced to 15 years in prison, a fine of 31 million CFA francs and an expulsion from the army.
"
We are going to appeal to the Supreme Court,
" their lawyer immediately declared.
Another element of the Republican Guard, unconvinced of Kelly Ondo's project, was acquitted as were the five gendarmes who stood guard at the Maison de la radio on the night of January 16, 2019, the date of the failed coup.
At the end of the deliberation, the gendarmes and their wives kissed for a long time, they shed tears.
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