On April 18, police arrested Kpedjo at his home in Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, and held him at a local police station until April 23, when the country’s special prosecutor for economic crimes and terrorism accused the journalist of violating Article 550 of Benin’s digital code by allegedly spreading false information about the Beninese economy on social networks, according to the journalist and his lawyer, Renaud Abgodjo, who both spoke with CPJ.
Kpedjo was released later on April 23, Abgodjo told CPJ. The journalist has technically not been charged with a crime, but is required to appear in court on May 2 to offer his defense against the accusations, Abgodjo said.
The accusations stem from two articles concerning the country’s economy that were featured in the April 17 edition of Nouvelle Economie and published on the newspaper’s and the journalist’s Facebook pages, Abgodjo told CPJ.
Kpedjo told CPJ that Beninese authorities confiscated his phone and computer upon his arrest. He said that police copied the data from his computer and later returned it, but have not returned his phone.
Please note:
This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin.
Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
