Gabon: The trial of Bishop Mike Jocktane postponed to February 2nd 2012 at 8:30AM (2:30PM Eastern Time)
Libreville, January, 23rd 2012. Following a trial held on January 19th, 2012 against Bishop Mike Jocktane on the basis of “destruction of public property, assault, battery and disturbing the peace" in a popular rally held January 29th, 2011 in Libreville, we have chosen to bring to light the intricacies of this trial to the nation and the international community. It is our opinion that this trial took place in a tense atmosphere with a massive and spectacular presence of the armed forces around and inside the courthouse, yet it has been postponed to February 2, 2012 at 8:30 AM.
Bishop Mike Jocktane is "officially" charged with having participated in a public rally held on January 29th, 2011 in Libreville. It is now crucial to notice that Bishop Mike Jocktane is now the only opposition leader prosecuted up to now, however no real evidence has been brought forward to prove his physical participation in that event (photography, images, eyewitnesses...). The lack of substantive evidence, the daily threats against him since the beginning of this case and the deployment of the army at this trial show a conspiracy to silence a politician leading the fight for so needed democracy and the rule of law in Gabon.
The lawsuit against Bishop Mike Jocktane finds it roots in the heart of the strategy of an illegitimate power established since August 30, 2009 and aimed at using for its benefit all the means available to the State (justice, intelligence, etc.) to eliminate all forms of opposition in Gabon and comfortably impose its dictatorship.
The case against Bishop Mike Jocktane, a former Deputy Chief of Staff of late President Omar Bongo Ondimba and a member of the main opposition party in Gabon, the Union Nationale, is actually prompted by the publication of the book " Le scandale des biens mal acquis" (the scandal of ill-gotten gains or wrongful enrichment) in which Bishop Mike Jocktane stated that Omar Bongo had financed Nicolas Sarkozy’s electoral campaign.
Bishop Mike Jocktane has been harassed and chased by the intelligence services of Ali Bongo’s regime and his life has been threatened since the release of this book and the beginning of the trial in which the name of the State as a civil party is instrumentalized for political purposes.
Bishop Mike Jocktane who is determined to see the triumph of the truth will indeed be present at the hearing scheduled for February 2 , 2012 at 8:30 AM (2:30 PM Eastern Time), in the courthouse of Libreville, capital city of Gabon.
The press team
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