With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma

Immediately after the decision, Ike Ngouoni was returned to Libreville Central Prison where he was already in preventive detention for nearly three years. The court found him guilty of embezzling seven billion CFA francs. In addition to the eight-year prison sentence, he is also ordered to pay five billion CFA francs to the State.

It is a denial of justice, denounced his lawyer, Maître Anges Kevin Nzigou, who persists in arguing that his client never managed public funds: "Ike Ngouoni deserved nothing less than acquittal, it is a profound denial of justice in my country."

It is a just decision, reacted Maître Haymard Moutsinga, lawyer for the State: "It is a reassuring decision, everyone must understand that one cannot recklessly manipulate public funds with impunity. So yes, this is a decision that suits us."

Ike Ngouoni was one of the powerful men in the government. He fell from favor in November 2019 as part of a clean hands operation that sent several officials to prison, including Brice Laccruche Alihanga, former cabinet director for Ali Bongo.