RSF files complaint against Benin and Côte d’Ivoire before the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Sossoukpè case

In July 2025, Olofofo founder Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè was targeted by an operation devised by senior Beninese officials and made possible by the complicity of the Ivorian authorities. After being invited by Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitalisation to cover an event, the journalist was abducted in Abidjan by Beninese officers and flown in a private plane to Cotonou, Benin. The state affair disguised as judicial cooperation is characterised by numerous irregularities and “serious failings,” reported at the highest level of the Ivorian State, as previously revealed by RSF.

The journalist is also being held in particularly harsh conditions, having been subjected to strict solitary confinement until early January — a period of seven months. Moreover, it was only from early 2026 that he was allowed brief visits from loved ones. He is being prosecuted for “harassment via a computer system,” “rebellion” and “apology for terrorism.”

A second journalist detained for nine months

Unfortunately, the case does not end with this covert cross-border operation involving police and intelligence services, and Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè is not the sole victim. In November 2025, RSF revealed another arrest, which occurred six days after that of the Olofofo director. Arrested on 16 July in Cotonou while delivering training in a secondary school, Ali Moumouni — a former journalist with the private broadcaster Canal 3 — was accused of collaborating with the media outlet led by Hugues Comlan Sossoukpè since September 2024. Placed in pretrial detention five days after his arrest, he faces five charges, including “incitement to violence and rebellion”, “harassment via electronic communications” and “apology for terrorism”.

Detained alongside other prisoners, Ali Moumouni is allowed to see his lawyer and two family members. His first hearing, which was interrupted due to health issues, took place on 25 March, more than eight months after his placement in pretrial detention at the civil prison of Cotonou. Questioning resumed in mid-April.