Journalist Hugues Comlan Sossoukpe, who has refugee status and is a vocal critic of the Beninese government, has been in exile in Togo since 2019. According to local media reports, he was invited by the Ivorian Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitalisation to attend a forum on new technologies in Abidjan,Ivory Coast, from 9 to 11 July.
The journalist travelled from Togo to Ivory Coast to attend the conference, but was detained on 10 July in his hotel room by police officers, who deported the journalist to Benin, despite his refugee status.
On 14 July, Sossoukpe appeared before a Beninese court and was charged with ‘cyber harassment, incitement to hatred and support for terrorism’.
The journalist’s lawyer, Charlemagne Dagbedji, accused the Ivorian government of inviting his client to Abidjan, expressly for him to be arrested and extradited to Benin, and demanded that his client’s fundamental rights be strictly respected.
The Benin’s country’s College of Lawyers issued a statement on 13 July condemning the decision to keep journalist Comlan Hugues Sossoukpè legal proceedings secret “as a flagrant violation of the Beninese Constitution”. It also called on the authorities to uphold the journalist’s fundamental rights in accordance with the Beninese Constitution, the international conventions ratified by Benin and Ivory Coast, and his refugee status.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger sees the scenario in which journalist Sossoukpe was arrested and extradited as an abduction, which is in total violation of his fundamental rights: “The invitation by the Ivorian government can only be seen as a trap to lure journalist Sossoukpe to come to Abidjan and deport him to Benin. This despicable tactic is unacceptable from a democratic government, especially considering that Sossoukpe is being persecuted by the Beninese government in relation to his work. His extradition constitutes a serious threat to his life, for which the Ivorian and Beninese governments must be held wholly responsible.”
The IFJ calls for the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Sossoukpe and asks the Beninese government to drop all charges against him.
For more Information, please contact the IFJ – Africa Office
1st Floor, Maison de la Presse, 5 Rue X Corniche, Medina,
BP 64257, Dakar, Senegal
Tel: +221- 33 867 95 86/87; Fax: +221- 33 827 02