The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), together with partner organisations across the region, has petitioned Benin’s President, Romuald Wadagni, calling for the immediate release or trial of journalist and recognised refugee Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè, who has spent nearly 16 months in pre-trial detention without a court hearing.
In an open letter signed by media freedom and human rights organisations from several West African countries, the groups expressed concern over what they describe as the prolonged and arbitrary detention of the founder and publication director of the investigative news outlet Olofofo.
“We write to you today not only as a group of media defence organisations and human rights defenders across West Africa, but as guardians of human dignity, civic conscience, and the rule of law,” the coalition said in its appeal to President Wadagni.
Sossoukpè, a Beninese journalist who was granted refugee status in Togo in 2021, was transferred from Côte d’Ivoire to Benin in July 2025 and subsequently placed in detention. According to the petition, he faces charges including incitement to rebellion, incitement to hatred and violence, harassment through electronic communications, and glorification of terrorism.
The coalition said Sossoukpè’s detention raises serious concerns about due process, noting that no trial date has been set despite the passage of more than 15 months.
“It has now been 479 days without a trial date being set,” the organisations stated. “His case remains trapped in an indefinite state of investigation, never referred to a trial court where he might defend his honour.”
The rights groups also highlighted concerns about the journalist’s health and detention conditions. They said Sossoukpè spent seven months in solitary confinement and is suffering from chronic respiratory and worsening eye conditions that require specialist medical treatment. A request for provisional release on medical grounds filed by his lawyers in August 2026 was later rejected.
“Pre-trial detention was never meant to be a sentence before a verdict,” the petition said. “In the case of Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè, indefinite imprisonment has become a silent, crushing punishment without a trial.”
The organisations argued that the prolonged detention appears inconsistent with protections guaranteed under regional and international human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They further raised concerns about Sossoukpè’s transfer from Côte d’Ivoire to Benin despite his recognised refugee status in Togo.
The coalition urged the Beninese authorities to bring an end to the prolonged investigation and grant Sossoukpè provisional release on humanitarian and medical grounds. If release is not granted, they called for the case to be immediately referred to a competent court to ensure a fair and timely trial.
The groups also demanded that authorities provide adequate medical treatment and ensure respect for the journalist’s fundamental rights while in detention.
“Nearly sixteen months of silence, isolation, and waiting is enough,” the letter said. “Give him his day in court, restore his dignity, and send a clear signal to West Africa and the world that Benin remains a land where fundamental human rights, free expression, and due process are sacred.”
The petition was signed by the Media Foundation for West Africa and several media and press freedom organisations from The Gambia, Guinea, Togo, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Collectively, the signatories called on the Beninese government to safeguard press freedom, uphold the rule of law and ensure that judicial processes are not used to penalise legitimate investigative journalism.
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