Gabons former prime minister and main opposition leader was placed in pre-trialdetention on Thursday night, according to sources cited by AFP.

Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, arrested at his home on Wednesday evening, is under investigation for alleged fraud and breach of trust, prosecutor Dick Fabrice Boungou Mikolo said in a statement.

A senior member of Bilie-By-Nzes party, speaking on condition of anonymity, and a source close to the case both told AFP the vocal government critic was taken into custody Thursday evening.

According to a statement from his party Ensemble pour le Gabon (EPG), which described the arrest as brutal and clearly against the basic principles of the rule oflaw, the case dates back to 2008.

The prosecutor said the investigation follows a complaint filed by a Gabonese citizen implicating Bilie-By-Nze.

The alleged facts concern the non-repayment of a sum of five million CFA francs (around 7,625 euros) which he is said to have received following the organisation of aculturalfestival, the prosecutor added.

The EPG said the case was linked to debt the Gabonese state failed to pay at the time, when Bilie-By-Nze was head of the festivals organising committee.

It said a third party is now demanding payment, imputing it personally to Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, even though he was acting in an institutional framework.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Originally published on France24