Senegal and Gabon courts address high‑profile fraud, political and drug cases

In Gabon, former JDS Technologies promoter Landry Nze Essame was released after four years of pre‑trial detention but investors still await repayment, with the businessman insisting that any refund must follow an audit and legal safeguards.

Senegal saw several judicial developments: former presidential adviser Abdou Aziz Diop faced a prosecutor‑requested six‑month prison term for insulting opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and making offensive online remarks; his trial is scheduled for a verdict on 7 July. In a separate case, a Senegalese woman, B. Diallo, was charged with fraudulently obtaining a French husband’s pension of 7.2 million FCFA through a fake marriage certificate. Another Senegalese court in Mbour is hearing accusations that fast‑food employee Abdou Diallo committed rape of a woman with a mental disability during celebrations of the national football win.

Former youth minister Pape Malick Ndour, linked to the controversial Prodac agricultural programme, was freed after the prosecution withdrew its cassation appeal.

In Gabon, authorities seized 7 890 tramadol‑derived tablets destined for Port‑Gentil and detained the couriers Olivier O. and a suspected intermediary, expanding a crackdown on psychotropic‑drug trafficking.