Top Benin Judge Says Flees Country Denouncing Pressure

A top Benin judge on Monday said he had quit and fled the West
African country, condemning political pressure that he alleged
included a demand to detain an opposition figure in the run-up to
presidential elections.

His denunciation comes as critics accuse President Patrice Talon
of cracking down on opponents, including rivals who had sought to
contest Sunday’s ballot.

Essowe Batamoussi said he had stepped down as a justice with the
Economic Crime and Terrorism Court (CRIET), which oversaw a probe
into opposition candidate Reckya Madougou, who was arrested last
month.

“The judge that I am is not independent,” Batamoussi told
France’s RFI radio early on Monday in an interview from an
undisclosed location.

“All the decisions that we have had to take have been under
pressure, including the one which put Reckya Madougou in
detention.”

Madougou, whose candidacy for the election was rejected, was
arrested last month and accused of plotting acts of terrorism to
disrupt the elections.

Justice Minister Severin Quenum said in a statement that
Batamoussi’s claims were “political manipulation”.

“Large sums of money from neighbouring countries are offered
here and there to win various civilian and military figures to the
cause of destabilising the state,” he added, going so far as to
claim that “calls have been made for a coup d’etat”.

The CRIET is a special court created by Talon that critics say
has become a tool the government uses to suppress opponents with
investigations.

One of Batamoussi’s colleagues there described him to AFP as a
“rigorous and very demanding” judge.

Sunday’s presidential election promises few surprises, with
Talon facing two little-known opposition candidates.

Benin has long been seen as a vibrant multi-party democracy, but
Talon’s critics say the country has veered into authoritarianism
under his rule.

Opponents say the vote is already rigged to favour Talon, a
cotton magnate first elected in 2016.

Seventeen other candidates, including Madougou, had their
candidacies rejected by the electoral commission for failing to
garner the required signatures of support from 16 mayors or
MPs.

That requirement was introduced by Talon in a contested
electoral reform.

Sebastien Ajavon, an opponent who came third in the previous
election and was already sentenced by CRIET in 2018 to 20 years in
prison for drug trafficking, was again sentenced in early March in
absentia to a second sentence for forgery.

He currently lives in exile, like most of Benin’s key opposition
leaders.

Last month, leading opposition figure Bio Dramane Tidjani and a
party associate were also charged by the CRIET with criminal
association and terrorism.

A top Benin judge on Monday said he had quit and fled the West
African country, condemning political pressure that he alleged
included a demand to detain an opposition figure in the run-up to
presidential elections.

His denunciation comes as critics accuse President Patrice Talon
of cracking down on opponents, including rivals who had sought to
contest Sunday’s ballot.

Essowe Batamoussi said he had stepped down as a justice with the
Economic Crime and Terrorism Court (CRIET), which oversaw a probe
into opposition candidate Reckya Madougou, who was arrested last
month.

“The judge that I am is not independent,” Batamoussi told
France’s RFI radio early on Monday in an interview from an
undisclosed location.

“All the decisions that we have had to take have been under
pressure, including the one which put Reckya Madougou in
detention.”

Madougou, whose candidacy for the election was rejected, was
arrested last month and accused of plotting acts of terrorism to
disrupt the elections.

Justice Minister Severin Quenum said in a statement that
Batamoussi’s claims were “political manipulation”.

“Large sums of money from neighbouring countries are offered
here and there to win various civilian and military figures to the
cause of destabilising the state,” he added, going so far as to
claim that “calls have been made for a coup d’etat”.

The CRIET is a special court created by Talon that critics say
has become a tool the government uses to suppress opponents with
investigations.

One of Batamoussi’s colleagues there described him to AFP as a
“rigorous and very demanding” judge.

Sunday’s presidential election promises few surprises, with
Talon facing two little-known opposition candidates.

Benin has long been seen as a vibrant multi-party democracy, but
Talon’s critics say the country has veered into authoritarianism
under his rule.

Opponents say the vote is already rigged to favour Talon, a
cotton magnate first elected in 2016.

Seventeen other candidates, including Madougou, had their
candidacies rejected by the electoral commission for failing to
garner the required signatures of support from 16 mayors or
MPs.

That requirement was introduced by Talon in a contested
electoral reform.

Sebastien Ajavon, an opponent who came third in the previous
election and was already sentenced by CRIET in 2018 to 20 years in
prison for drug trafficking, was again sentenced in early March in
absentia to a second sentence for forgery.

He currently lives in exile, like most of Benin’s key opposition
leaders.

Last month, leading opposition figure Bio Dramane Tidjani and a
party associate were also charged by the CRIET with criminal
association and terrorism.