Jean-Pierre Marongiu
Jean-Pierre Marongiu was a French businessman, engineer, and writer. While living in Qatar, he experienced legal challenges and spent five years imprisoned. After returning to France, he wrote about his experiences in Qatar's justice system.
Early life and career
Born on 24 March 1957 in Tunisia, Marongiu worked as an arts and crafts engineer in Aix-en-Provence. He then worked as a quality control manager in Panama for a French company, Ateliers et chantiers de Marseille, later continuing on to Costa Rica. Subsequently, he supervised oil platform construction projects and worked abroad in Asia, Africa, South America, and the North Sea, before settling in Angola in 2001, where he founded a company specializing in the energy and civil engineering sectors.Qatar legal chalange
In 2005, Marongiu invested in a Qatari management training company alongside a local partner who took 51% of the shares, as required by Qatari law. In 2008, he was elected president of the Union des Français de l'Etranger in Qatar for a five-year term. However, he was trapped by his Qatari partner, who in 2013 demanded all of his shares in the company without compensation.After losing everything, he attempted to flee the country illegally, for which he was arrested in Bahrain and imprisoned without trial. He spent more than 1700 days in prison, attempting to receive help from France, his family, and his lawyer. He was released on 5 July 2018 after receiving a pardon. After returning to France, he began writing about his experiences.