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Benin: Benin Jails Second Key Opposition Figure in Less Than a Week
DW, 11 December 2021
A court in Benin has convicted Reckya Madougou of what critics says are politically-motivated charges. They accuse President Patrice Talon's regime of pushing Benin into… Read more »
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Benin: Benin Opposition Leader Madougou Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
RFI, 11 December 2021
Benin opposition leader Reckya Madougou has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for terrorism by a special court in the capital Porto-Novo, following a brief trial that her lawyers… Read more »
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Benin: The Jailed Candidate - What Madougou's Case Tells Us About Benin
African Arguments, 29 September 2021
It's time to wake up and realise that Benin is no longer the model democracy it once was. Political, legal and social rights have all been eroded. Read more »
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Benin: Benin's Democracy Hangs in the Balance On Election Weekend
DW, 10 April 2021
Incumbent President Patrice Talon is poised for reelection in the West African country. But reforms to Benin's electoral system have stacked the odds in his favor at the expense of… Read more »
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US-Africa Cybersecurity Group, 15 February 2021
If you are a keen observer of Beninese politics in these tumultuous times of pre-electoral turmoil, you have surely already seen the recent video of the interview with Dakpè… Read more »
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Benin: A Third Election Without Main Opposition Parties
ISS, 8 April 2021
On 11 April, Benin will hold its seventh presidential election since the 1990 national conference that paved the way for the country's peaceful transition from military… Read more »
Benin Opposition Leader Sentenced to 20 Years in Jail
Benin opposition leader Reckya Madougou has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for terrorism by a special court in the capital Porto-Novo, following a brief trial that her lawyers condemned as a "political attack".
Critics say the court, set up in 2016, has been used by President Patrice Talon's regime to crack down on the opposition and pushed Benin into authoritarianism.
Madougou was one of several Benin opposition leaders banned from running in an election in April in which Talon won a second term with 86 percent of the vote. Some opposition leaders have fled the country while others were disqualified from running in elections, or targeted for investigation.
She was arrested in March - just weeks before the election - accused of financing an operation to assassinate political figures to prevent the vote, in an alleged bid to "destabilise" the country.
