An ambassador worried about her safety in the middle of Paris.
The case is unusual enough for Liliane Massala, diplomatic representative of Gabon in France, to file a complaint on April 6 for “threats”.
Appointed in September 2020, this 57-year-old woman knows the mysteries of power well, having worked for a long time as an advisor to President Omar Bongo.
Company manager, she then worked in various ministries before being chosen by Ali Bongo, who succeeded her father in 2009, to occupy this strategic position.
An appointment closely scrutinized by the Gabonese diaspora, with whom relations are difficult, especially since the disputed presidential election of 2016. It is in this context that the ambassador chose to take legal action, after the broadcast of a video containing violent remarks against him and the threat of a "hostage-taking", denounces his lawyer, Me Jean-Georges Betto.
In this 25-minute long extract posted on October 21 on his YouTube channel, Jonas Moulenda, journalist exiled in France since 2015 and notorious opponent of the regime, welcomes him and promises him a strong welcoming committee. .
"You come to represent the junta in power", a "dictatorial" and "criminal" regime, he said facing the camera and addressing himself directly to the ambassador, moreover described as "proud guinea fowl".
"We will take good care of you.
The resistance will come to welcome you ”.
"You came to challenge us (...) You will come and explain to us why your government (...) insists on keeping the Gabonese in the galley", continues the journalist, with reference to the social climate linked to the Covid pandemic -19.
"We are not going to have pity on you because you are a woman"
"If we touch a hair of a Gabonese, you will see us at the embassy".
"If things go badly in Libreville on the 25th (
Editor's note: October, the day chosen by the ecclesiastical hierarchy for the reopening of churches, prohibited by the authorities
), it is you that we will fuss (
Editor's note: slap
).
"We are going to spray you (
Editor's note:
banging
on the head
)", continues the opponent, specifying: "We know where you live".
"We are not going to have pity on you because you are a woman", "if you escape us at the embassy, we will land there", "the hardest part is yet to come for you", continues, all smile, Jonas Moulenda.
A man who enjoys a certain audience, his YouTube channel accumulating more than 23,000 subscriptions and his videos a total of 6 million views.
"It is absolutely inadmissible to put pressure of this nature on a diplomatic representative," said Me Betto.
The political struggle must be carried out in a peaceful manner and not by violence.
These intolerable threats are taken very seriously, the embassy is not protected and the author of this video has the personal address of Ms. Massala.
"
In June 2018, the embassy was thus invaded by demonstrators who had managed to enter and had degraded the premises.
Even more worrying, for Me Betto, Jonas Moulenda "rejoices" in his video of the aggression suffered in 2012 by the Gabonese ambassador in New York.
“I was happy,” he smiles.
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"The direct reference to a real aggression is far from being trivial", continues the lawyer.
Persistent rumors, reporting an intrusion project scheduled for the end of containment, precipitated the filing of a complaint.
“Liliane Massala wishes to be able to be protected to prevent a passage to the act, alert Me Betto.
She is legitimately worried about herself and her children.
"
