Beninese opponent Joël Aivo was heavily condemned by Criet, the Court for the Repression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism. The constitutional expert and two of his co-defendants receive ten years in prison. They were found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy against state authority. A verdict delivered early this Tuesday in Porto Novo in front of a surprised and stunned audience.
with our special correspondent in Porto Novo, Jean-Luc Aplogan
When the president asked him: what do you have to add in your defense? Joel Aïvo replied, do with me what you want … It is 2:30 in the morning when the verdict falls: the professor receives ten years of criminal detention; same sentence for the two other co-accused, two soldiers. His project manager is acquitted with the benefit of the doubt,
The opponent Joël Aïvo returns to his place without saying anything, his face betraying no emotion. His wife Gladys takes him for a long time in her arms. The lawyers, disappointed not to have obtained the acquittal go to him, all give him a hug and wish him courage. During the hearings they denounced the absence of evidence and a empty folder.
We wanted to manufacture at all costs a ” Bob denard junior ”named after this famous French mercenary, regrets Me Robert Bonou. For him, Joël Aïvo is not a mercenary but a “pilgrim of democracy”. A major figure in the young generation of Beninese political actors, candidate failed in the presidential election of April 2021, Joël Aïvo is also a renowned constitutional expert.
At the bar, the opponent, in pre-trial detention for eight months, said he was persuaded to pay his democratic convictions. Then he asks: today it’s me. Who will be next tomorrow ?
► also to listen: the stakes of the trial of the opponent Joël Aivo, according to the political scientist Expédit Ologou