It has been alleged that he was a key member of the Françafrique network, led by Jacques Foccart.
However, the trial did permit various opponents of the Françafrique to testify: Ngarlejy Yorongar, opponent of Hissène Habré and then Idriss Déby, who spoke of the "eleven times" he was arrested and "tortured" during Déby's eight-years long rule.
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François-Xavier Verschave forged the term Françafrique as a parody of the term "France-Afrique" used by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, former president of Côte d'Ivoire (1960–1993), to boast the good relations between the imperial power and the newly independent countries.
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After the publication of Noir silence, which also criticized Jacques Chirac's role in the Françafrique, Verschave was targeted by Denis Sassou-Nguesso, head of the Republic of the Congo, Idriss Déby, president of Chad, and Omar Bongo, president of Gabon since 1967 and Africa's longest serving ruler at the time.