Gabon detains anti-corruption activists-French NGOs

By Estelle Shirbon

PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Five anti-corruption campaigners in Gabon were arrested just before New Year and are being detained in harsh conditions on unknown charges, non-governmental organisations in France said on Tuesday.

One of the five, Gregory Ngbwa Mintsa, is a plaintiff in a suit filed in a French court against Gabonese President Omar Bongo by anti-corruption activists who accuse the veteran leader of buying French properties with the proceeds of corruption.

Nine French NGOs said the five Gabonese campaigners were arrested on Dec. 30 and 31 and have been held since then without access to their lawyers and without being told what are the charges against them.

"The only 'wrong' these men have committed is to demand that Gabon apply rules of good governance as required by its international commitments, that is to say transparency and probity in the management of public funds," the NGOs said.

They include the French arm of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International and the campaign group Sherpa, which are also involved in the lawsuit against Bongo.

Gabon's Interior Minister Andre Obame declined to answer reporters' questions on Monday about the reason for the arrests.

Some weeks ago Obame appeared on state TV in Gabon and accused one of the detainees, Marc Ona, head of the local branch of Publish What You Pay and correspondent for U.S. state-backed radio Voice of America, of being politically motivated.

Obame said then that "politicised NGOs are a threat to the country's internal security".