Beninese journalist released, still under investigation

(COTONOU): Beninese journalist Cosme Hounsa, who was arrested earlier this week after a minister complained of online harassment, was released on Friday but remains under investigation, relatives and a judicial source told AFP.

His arrest on Tuesday came days after that of another journalist, Hugues Comlan Soussoukpe, a critic of the government who was detained in Ivory Coast and extradited to Benin.

“Cosme Hounsa is now free,” said relatives of the journalist, adding that police had kept his telephones.

Hounsa is, however, still facing legal proceedings and can be summoned at any time as part of the judicial process, a legal source said.

Read more: Al Qaeda affiliate says it killed 70 soldiers in Benin, SITE reports

The Benin-based ODEM association of journalists said that the detention of journalists was “prohibited, except in cases of incitement to crime and offences against public order”.

Hounsa, editor of newspaper La Boussole (The Compass), was arrested by agents of the National Centre for Digital Investigations (CNIN), following a complaint for “harassment via electronic means” filed by Minister Counsellor Rachidi Gbadamassi, several sources said.

Sossoukpe, editor of the online news site Olofofo and a critic of the government, was arrested in early July in Abidjan and extradited to Benin, where he was imprisoned for “glorifying terrorism”.

Read more: Benin festival seeks to dispel voodoo stereotypes

In August 2024, Beninese cyberactivist Steve Amoussou, accused of running an account critical of the government, was abducted in neighbouring Togo, according to his lawyers, then brought back to Cotonou where he was in June sentenced to two years in jail.