BENIN
BENIN: Opponent Sebastien Ajavon seized the UN
Being a candidate in the presidential elections of April 2021 and facing outgoing President Patrice Talon is the wish of the Beninese opponent, Sébastien Ajavon. And yet, the latter was condemned by the Court of Repression of Illicit Enrichment and Terrorism (Criet) of his country on 18 October 2018. From France, where he went into exile, he referred the matter to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for the purpose of enjoying his civil rights again.
The Beninese businessman Sébastien Ajavon is determined to stand in the next presidential election despite the legal proceedings against him. Sentenced to 20 years in prison for «international trafficking in cocaine» with a fine of 5 million FCFA, or €7,600, Sébastien Ajavon asks the UN to be able to return to his country and face the current President of the Republic Patrice Talon.
Sebastien Ajavon says he is a victim of the violation of his right to take part in the public affairs of his country. In addition, he accuses the government of wanting to exclude him from the presidential elections of April 11, 2021 with suspicious and illegal maneuvers to stifle him financially. He cites the suspension of his radio Soleil Fm in December 2019 and the tax recovery of its Benin-based companies to the tune of FCFA 167 billion. The political opponent also accuses the Beninese state of refusing to respect the decisions taken by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in its favour.
The political destiny of the 56-year-old Beninese businessman is now in the hands of the UN.
It should be recalled that following his conviction in October 2018, an international arrest warrant was issued against him. However, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) granted him political asylum in March 2019.
The facts for which he was convicted date back to 28 October 2016 with the seizure of 18 kilos of pure cocaine in a container belonging to the Cajaf-Comon company, owned by Sébastien Ajavon.
Rosine Vieyra Soglo, former first lady of the Republic of Benin, died. The information was confirmed on Sunday 25 July by many local media, citing sources close to the family.
According to the first information available, Rosine Soglo died today at 11am, in a private clinic where she was hospitalized. Active for many years, she had not made a public statement for several months.
The former usher, wife of former president Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo, held an important place in Beninese political life. Part of the generation that led Benin to democracy in the 1990s, she had been elected several times before retiring in 2019.
His outspokenness and his role as a pillar of his political family had earned him the nickname of an iron lady. For the time being no details have been provided concerning the future tributes to be paid to this true monument of the political scene of ancient Dahomey.
Source: Agence Ecofin / Par Moutiou Adjibi Nourou
The Beninese opponent, Joël Aïvo, faced the judge of the Court of Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (Criet). The trial opened this Thursday, July 15, 2021. In detention since 11 April, the day after the presidential election, the constitutional expert is being prosecuted for “undermining state security and money laundering.” Accusations that the opponent has always challenged despite his detention. The trial was postponed until August 5.
The trial of the opponent, Joël Aïvo, began on Thursday 15 July 2021. Arrested in the street the day after the presidential election in April, the professor, renowned in the African continent for his knowledge in the constitutional field, will be tried for “undermining the security of the State and money laundering”. He was presented to the judge with his co-accused: a retired soldier, a non-commissioned officer still serving, and the one who manages the finances of his political movement, Dynamique Aïvo. A group of Beninese and European lawyers has been hired to defend the opponent who totally denies the facts that are alleged against him.They are former President of the Bar Robert Dossou, Professor Barnabé Georges Gbago, French Christophe Bass and François Mazon, as well as their Belgian colleague Ludovic Hennebel. These black dresses, according to the information provided by Rfi, are allowed to consult their client’s file.
Joel Aïvo appeared and his trial was dismissed. His lawyers have filed an application for parole, which will be reviewed by the Cree on August 5, 2021. Created in 2018, the legal institution is, for opponents of the regime of Patrice Talon, an instrument of liquidation of potential presidential candidates.
The former Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the National University of Benin (UNB) will be in prison on July 18, 2021, until his 48th birthday.
BENIN
[URGENT] – Patrice Talon publicly pledges not to run for a third term and to hand over power in May 2026 to his successor!
This is probably the highlight of the second day of the West African Citizens’ Summit on Good Governance, Alternation and Democracy in Cotonou. As announced yesterday (Pan-African on the limitation of the number of presidential mandates.), the Head of State of Benin Patrice Talon honored his presence on the second day. And beyond a mere presence, the good surprise is that the President of Benin made a public commitment, this Saturday, July 10 in the blue room of the Cotonou Congress Palace, to hand over power in May 2026 at the end of his second mandate in 2026.
“(…) I measure the scope of the relay and before you how much I will commit myself, take you to witness to pass this relay, on the third Sunday of May 2026, to the one who will have the confidence of the Beninese people,” solemnly declared Patrice Talon, in his speech for the occasion. An announcement greeted with ovations fed by the assistance made up mostly of young people. Moreover, he wants to pass on this relay to his successor to perpetuate the tradition of alternation. “I would like to assure you that I will ask for a derogation from the State Protocol so that the symbol of alternation that you have just handed over to me becomes part of the elements of the charging ritual,” he said, adding: “I will take good care of it and pass it on to my successor and tell him to read the number 2 carefully.”
The relay of which the Beninese President speaks, is a sceptre symbolizing the alternation given to him by the Social Universities of Togo (UST), by the hands of their Coordinator, Prof David Dosseh. This witness is made of two materials, ebony and gold, produced by two craftsmen, a Togolese cabinetmaker and a Senegalese jeweller, and contains 20 grams of gold. The 2 symbolizes the maximum number of mandates defended by the civil society present in Cotonou.
Patrice Talon in fact responded favourably to a request from the latter asking him to be the embodiment of political alternation in the ECOWAS area, the central issue or the finality of this meeting of Cotonou, while refusing to be cited as an example or lecturer in the promotion of this ideal in West Africa.“Excellency, can your country produce a vaccine against this pandemic?” created by the “3rd mandate virus in Africa?” “Could you then accept this symbolic witness so that Cotonou becomes the mandate-limiting capital of Africa?” , these are the questions asked by Prof David Dosseh.
In other words, Patrice Talon undertakes publicly and solemnly to respect the Constitution of Benin, the limitation of the presidential mandate inscribed there in golden letters, not to run for a 3rd term and therefore to transmit the 3rd Sunday of May 2026 to his successor who will be elected. This commitment by the President of Benin to the youth of ECOWAS seals the total success of this citizen summit organized by the UST, the Centre for Research on the Rule of Law in Africa (CREA), the Tournons La Page Coalition (TLP) and other partners.
We’ll come back to that.
Source : Le Tabloid
