France on Tuesday asked Gabon to comply with a bilateral judicial agreement between them following its decision not to allow a French lawyer into the country. The spokesman of the French ministry of foreign affairs, Eric Chevallier, said at a press conference in Paris: “We clearly ask for the bilateral aid and judicial assistance convention to be complied with.” The French lawyer, Mr Thierry Levy, was to assist leaders of NGOs detained in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, for subversion. He was prevented last Thursday from emplaning in Paris for Libreville where he had to defend Gabonese NGO leaders who had been sued, among others, for “possessing a subversive document with a view to its dissemination”. “We received Mr Levy at the ministry. We have made moves to facilitate the issuing of a visa as we wish that the rights of the defence will have to be respected and that the bilateral judicial convention applies effectively,” the spokesman of the ministry said. He denied that France was intervening on behalf of the NGO leaders.
