Libreville, March 21, 2023 (AGP)-The group of parents of the disappeared and the group of lawyers met on Monday March 20. At the end of this meeting, they invited the people affected by this tragedy, including civil society, the survivors, and the families of the disappeared, to file a complaint by March 24, 2023 with the judicial authorities, against the designated officials whom they consider to be the Royal Coast shipowner and the Gabonese State.
The essential points discussed at this meeting were, among others: the definition of those responsible for the sinking, the identification of the persons concerned, the reminder of the documents to be provided by the parents for the criminal procedure, and the date of filing of the files.
Regarding the points on those responsible for the tragedy, the shipowner and the Gabonese State are the two main accused of the sinking of March 9th. According to the minutes of this meeting, the company is implicated ” because she was unable to transport passengers safely from the port of embarkation to the port of disembarkation “. While the State is held responsible, ” because he did not fulfill his duty to control the boats and protect human livess « .
The people affected by this maritime accident, including civil society, the survivors and the families of the missing, will therefore be able to better direct their complaints, which they must file by March 24 at 1:30 p.m.
With regard to the composition of the complaint files, the parents of the disappeared are invited to provide the following elements: a copy of the identity document of the disappeared, a copy of the identity documents of the beneficiaries, to justify the affiliation, photos of the missing before the tragedy and in the state found (if the body was recovered). And for the missing who are not in the manifest, the parents must provide all possible evidence indicating that the person concerned was in the boat.
A review meeting on the files collected has been set for Thursday, March 23. That is 24 hours before the final submission of files.
JM/CBO/FE/AGP
