00:00As Gabonese President Brice Oligi Ingema begins a state visit to France,
00:05pressure is mounting on Paris over the detention of opposition figure Alain-Claude Bouliba-Inzay.
00:11His lawyers say the former prime minister has been held since April on politically motivated charges,
00:17while he denies all allegations.
00:22We are asking for France's friendly pressure.
00:24We are asking for a reminder of the principles that the president of Gabon himself claims to uphold whenever he
00:31is interviewed.
00:32There is a man in prison being held in degrading conditions.
00:36He is confined 24 hours a day in a 5 square meter cell and is allowed only out for a
00:42few minutes each week.
00:45He will turn 60 soon.
00:47These are clearly conditions designed to break him.
00:50We are calling on the French Republican authorities to respond.
01:00His lawyers say the case is politically motivated, citing legal irregularities and harsh detention conditions,
01:07arguing this should not be seen as foreign interference.
01:13I don't think this should be seen as some kind of pseudo-colonial intervention or anything like that.
01:18The same kind of intervention could very well be made and indeed has been made with other African countries that
01:24are not former French colonies.
01:26So I think it would be completely beside the point to view it that way.
01:35The opposition leader denies all accusations against him of fraud and breach of trust dating back to 2008.
01:43Gabon's presidency insists the judiciary is acting independently and denies any political interference.
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