A special court in Benin on Tuesday sentenced one of the country’s opposition figures, Joel Aivo, to 10 years in prison after a trial on treason and corruption charges.
The academic, who had been held for eight months, had
said the charges of plotting against the state and money laundering were
politically motivated.
He was convicted after a more than 16-hour trial, an
AFP reporter said.
Several opposition leaders were detained before or
just after the April 11 election that saw Benin President Patrice Talon
win a second term with more than 86 percent of the vote.
Aivo, one of the opposition figures who was barred from
running in the presidential election, had pleaded not guilty when the trial
opened Monday.
Arrested on April 15, Aivo was tried at the Economic
Crime and Terrorism Court (CRIET) in the West African country’s administrative
capital, Porto-Novo.
The CRIET, a special court set up in 2016, has often
been accused by critics of serving as a tool by Talon’s regime to crack down on
the opposition.
Once praised for its thriving multi-party democracy,
critics say Benin has slipped steadily into authoritarian rule under former
cotton magnate Talon.
Some opposition figures have fled the country while
others were disqualified from running in elections, or targeted for
investigation.
- AFP