In Togo, it was a trial which made the headlines, the verdict of which was rendered this week by a military tribunal, three years after the murder of Colonel Bitala Madjoulba, commander of the 1st rapid intervention battalion, found died in his office the day after the inauguration of President Faure Gnassingbé, of whom he was part of the inner circle.
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Five soldiers were sentenced to sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years in prison. The heaviest sentence was handed down to General Abalo Kadangha, chief of the general staff from 2013 to 2020. Two defendants were acquitted.
Contacted by RFI, Atcholi Kao Monzolouwe, president of the Association of Victims of Torture in Togo (ASVITTO), evokes a special trial in several respects, in particular because of the jurisdiction and the professional status of the accused, but which did not not allowed to shed any light on this matter.
“This is the first time that a military tribunal has operated in Togo with a general officer at the helm who was chief of general staff of the armed forces at the time of the events. Then, we must capitalize on the fact that certain soldiers are acquitted at the end of this trial and authorized to join the army. It is also a positive fact which constitutes jurisprudence which will correct many judicial errors which have caused harm to several soldiers in the past. However, on the affair itself, national and international opinion remained unconvinced. The judges failed to carry out in-depth investigations with a view to revealing the truth about the real perpetrators and the reasons for this crime.”
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