Event Summary
On 24 March 2026, the CRIET (Court for the Repression of Economic Offenses and Terrorism) of Benin sentenced a journalist, identified by the initials P.M. and working for a daily newspaper in Porto-Novo, to five years in prison and a fine of 10 million CFA francs. He was prosecuted for incitement to rebellion, glorification of crimes against state security, and incitement to hatred via the internet.
The charges stem from the attempted coup d’état of 7 December 2025: the journalist allegedly published a message announcing a military takeover after following a statement by the mutineers on Benin TV. The prosecution interpreted this publication as support for the destabilization of the constitutional order.
In his defense, P.M. pleaded not guilty, stating that he had acted under duress after receiving death threats on 5 December 2025. He also pointed out that, a few hours later, he had published a second message relaying the official announcement of the failure of the coup—an argument he considered proof of his lack of intent to support the coup plotters. However, the prosecution dismissed these arguments, criticizing him in particular for not reporting the threats to the authorities.
The Court fully upheld the prosecution’s requests. The journalist has 15 days to file an appeal.
This trend goes beyond the coup context alone. According to Reporters Without Borders, it is not uncommon for Beninese journalists to be summoned before the CRIET, and journalistic freedom has significantly declined in recent years. In July 2025, journalist Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè, who had taken refuge in Togo, was arrested in Abidjan and extradited to Benin, where he was subject to an arrest warrant issued by the CRIET for glorifying terrorism. A few days later, another journalist, Cosme Hounsa, was arrested following a complaint for online harassment filed by a minister.