COTONOU, Benin — Benin President
Patrice Talon on Wednesday dismissed criticism that his government was holding
political prisoners after the jailing of two opposition leaders late last year.
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The West African state sitting between Nigeria and
Togo was long praised for its thriving multi-party democracy, but critics say
freedoms have steadily eroded under Talon, a 64-year-old cotton magnate first
elected in 2016.
Talon was speaking during a one-day visit by
President Emmanuel Macron to Benin’s economic capital Cotonou after the French
leader had traveled to Cameroon.
“In Benin, there are no political detainees, no one
is detained in Benin for their political opinion,” Talon said, answering
questions from journalists with Macron at his side.
“But people are detained for having acted, for
having committed offenses and crimes in the political field, that is true.”
Macron did not talk about the political situation in
Benin during his speech.
Talon said it was possible that an amnesty or pardon
may be given to detained opposition figures, when asked about releasing the two
leaders.
“We have to be able to adjust the political
situation so that it gives a good image, favorable to economic development,”
Talon said.
“Our image is a little tarnished by the political
situation that Benin has experienced lately. I am not ashamed of that.”
Benin opposition leader Reckya Madougou was
sentenced in December to 20 years in prison for “terrorism” by a special court
in the capital Porto-Novo after a brief trial that her attorneys condemned as a
“political attack”.
Madougou was one of several Benin opposition leaders
banned from running in last year’s April election when Talon won a second term
with 86 percent of the vote.
A former justice minister, she was arrested in
Cotonou in March — just weeks before the election — accused of financing an
operation to assassinate political figures to prevent the vote and trying to
“destabilize” the country.
Another opposition leader Joel Aivo, a professor who
had been held for eight months, was also found guilty last December of money
laundering and plotting against the state.
Both were tried by a special court dealing with
terrorism and economic crimes, known as the CRIET. Critics say the court,
created by Talon’s government in 2016, has been used crackdown on his
opponents.
Less than a week before the April election, a judge
from the CRIET fled Benin denouncing political pressure to make rulings, in
particular in the case of Madougou’s arrest.
Some opposition figures have fled the country while others
have been disqualified from running in elections or targeted for probes by the
government, critics say.
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