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A view of Libreville in Gabon (illustrative image)
Jean Remy Yama has been in prison since March 2, 2022. The president of Dynamique unitaire, the largest coalition of Gabonese civil servants’ unions, is accused of fraud and breach of trust. Four of his colleagues have filed a complaint against him for not having received the houses for which they had paid money to SCI Serpentin, a company created to build staff housing, and co-managed by Jean Remy Yama. Trade unions, civil society and even the opposition unanimously demand the immediate and unconditional release of the trade unionist.
With our correspondent in Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
On his Facebook page, opponent Jean Ping doubts the motives that led Jean Remy Yama in jail. « Any reason will be found to bring down on him the sword of Damocles that the regime (…) hangs over the head of every Gabonese “, he wrote before concluding” the union leader must regain his freedom. »
Astonishment
The Rally for the Fatherland and Modernity (RPM) of the opponent Alexandre Barro Chambrier is surprised that the president of Unitary Dynamics is again prosecuted for a case already closed without further action by the same court. ” The RPM holds the power responsible, in the event of a worsening of his state of health “, concludes the party which recalls that the trade unionist was arrested at the airport while he was leaving for treatment in Senegal.
Not a “political matter”
The Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG, in power) did not want decide on a case under investigation “. A judicial source confides that it is not a question of ” of a political affair. It is not SCI Serpentin, a legal entity that would have made another use of the money paid by the plaintiffs, but rather Yama, a natural person “, concludes the source very close to the file.