After meeting Thomas Boni Yayi, Patrice Talon temporarily released 17 detainees. But Reckya Madougou and Joël Aivo are not on the Beninese president's list.
The list was expected as much as that of a national team before a World Cup. In Benin, 17 people - opponents of the Patrice Talon regime - have been provisionally released by the President of the Republic. On the list, two names were omitted: those of Reckya Madougou and Joël Aivo. Even if the relatives of the two opponents hardly expected any leniency from Patrice Talon, it is clear that the wave of provisional releases loses all its meaning if it does not concern Madougou and Aivo.
It all started on June 13 with a meeting between Patrice Talon and Thomas Boni Yayi, former head of state of the West African country. At the Marina Palace, the two men were not on their first date. Indeed, last September, Talon and Boni Yayi had already tried to reconcile. Without success. Besides a symbolic photo, nothing came of this improbable encounter.
This June 13, the agenda was clearer than last September: it was talks “relating to the consolidation of political peace”. While he had already requested the release of several opponents, Thomas Boni Yayi hoped, this time, to be heard. It only took a day for Patrice Talon to make a gesture towards his rival.
Special treatment for Madougou and Aivo?
On June 14, in fact, the special prosecutor of the Court for the Suppression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (Criet), the judicial instrument of power to prosecute opponents, asked the judge of freedoms and detention the provisional release of 17 detainees.
Releases which do not mean, however, the closing of cases which concern the detainees now outside. The trials should indeed take place, but the accused will now be able to enjoy their freedom. Among the people affected by the presidential measure, several soldiers but also a member of the party of Sébastien Ajavon, who is exiled to France.
Accused of "conspiracy against state security, association of criminals, failure to report a crime and complicity", the 17 defendants will also be able to prepare their respective trials more calmly.
On the other hand, for Reckya Madougou and Joël Aivo, it is the status quo. Patrice Talon seems to personally ensure that the two opponents remain locked up, despite attempts at mediation by several African heads of state. Madougou and Aivo were sentenced last December to XNUMX and XNUMX years' imprisonment respectively, after being found guilty of "money laundering and conspiracy against state authority".