A half-brother of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, accused of trying to overthrow power in 2009 and detained since then, has been evacuated to Gabon for sanitary reasons, one of his aides told AFP on Wednesday.
Considered the mastermind of a failed putsch, Kpatcha Gnassingbé, former Minister of Defense (2005-2007), was sentenced in September 2011 to 20 years in prison for conspiring against state security. He had been arrested on April 15, 2009 in front of the American embassy where he was trying to find refuge.
A total of 33 soldiers and civilians involved in this foiled putsch of 2009 were tried by the judicial chamber of the Supreme Court and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 months to 20 years. All had pleaded their innocence. Kpatcha Gnassingbé and two officers are still being held in this case, the others having been released.