The corruption trial of former Central African president Ange Felix Patasse was postponed indefinitely on Wednesday at the request of prosecutors.
Patasse, in exile in Togo, is charged along with four co-defendants — all of them close aides during his presidency — with stealing 70-billion CFA francs (about R803-million) in public funds. Legal sources have said that other charges could also be added.
The only defendant present in court in the capital, Bangui, on Wednesday was Simon Kouloumba, who was Patasse’s energy adviser.
The other accused are Lazare Dokoula, former junior finance minister; Michel Banguet Tadet, former economic adviser; and Louis Sanchez, Central Africa’s former representative to the United Nations.
Patasse (67) led a civilian government for 10 years before being overthrown in a coup in March last year led by the former armed forces chief of staff, Francois Bozize, who is now the president.
He has dismissed the charges against him as a bid to prevent him from running in the February presidential elections.
”They say I have embezzled 70-billion CFA francs. In a small country like the Central African Republic, which has a budget of between 90-billion and 100-billion CFA, I have no idea where I could have gotten that kind of money,” he said in a recent interview.
Several former ministers and associates of Patasse have been on trial in Bangui since December 6, and the court has already acquitted his former prime minister of embezzlement. — Sapa-AFP