In Benin, investigative journalist Ignace Sossou has been released

He had been sentenced to six months in prison. In Benin, investigative journalist Ignace Sossou was released from detention on Wednesday June 24, found an AFP journalist.

"I am a free man," said the journalist, adding that he did not wish to comment on the procedure. "The case is still before the courts and I cannot afford to say any more," he said.

Free since this afternoon, the investigative journalist Ignace Sossou delivered his first words to the press. He thanks his family all the associations, his friends and his lawyers #Benin @gouvbenin #Haac #Wasexo #CFI #Cenozo #ICIJ # France24 # Africa24 pic.twitter.com/XHn6EIEgUO

The journalist, who had been sentenced on appeal to six months firm and six months suspended, with a fine of 500,000 CFA francs (about 762 euros), appealed to the Court of Cassation. 

"The fight is not over, we will continue it," said his lawyer Me Brice Houssou. "The most important thing was that he first recovered his freedom because the spirit of the laws of the Republic of Benin is that the journalist must never end up in prison for his writings, or for his professional work" , he said.

Critical remarks by the government

Ignace Sossou had been arrested on December 19, 2019 at his home by elements of the Central Office for the Suppression of Cybercrime, before being placed under arrest warrant in late December.

The journalist had posted the day before on his Facebook and Twitter pages words attributed to the public prosecutor Mario Metonou, while he was speaking at a conference organized in Cotonou by the French Media Development Agency (CFI, dependent on the ministry French for Foreign Affairs) to discuss "fake news".

Ignace Sossou finally recovered his freedom today, after six months in detention which sparked outrage. https://t.co/LnOHhImDWH #FreeIgnace # Benin

The relayed remarks seemed rather critical of the attitude of the Beninese government towards freedom of expression. "The internet outage on (legislative) polling day on April 28 is an admission of weakness on the part of the government," said the prosecutor, who did not publish a denial afterwards.

Authoritarian drift

Ignace Sossou works for the online media Benin Web TV, and collaborates with several collectives such as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the 3i Network (Initiative, Impact, Investigation).

President Patrice Talon, elected in April 2016, is regularly accused of having made an authoritarian shift in this country usually hailed for the dynamism of its democracy. Its main opponents are currently living abroad, targeted by legal cases in Benin.

With AFP

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