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Beninese journalist Cosme Hounsa, arrested earlier this week on a complaint of online harassment from a government minister, was released on Friday but remains under investigation.
Relatives and a judicial source confirmed his release to AFP.
Hounsa, who edits the newspaper La Boussole (The Compass), was detained by agents of the National Centre for Digital Investigations (CNIN) following a complaint filed by Minister Counsellor Rachidi Gbadamassi for “harassment via electronic means.”
While he is now free, a legal source stated that Hounsa still faces legal proceedings and could be summoned at any time as part of the ongoing judicial process.
His arrest comes just days after another journalist, Hugues Comlan Soussoukpe, a known critic of the government, was detained in Ivory Coast and then extradited to Benin.
Soussoukpe, editor of the online news site Olofofo, was imprisoned in Benin for “glorifying terrorism.”
The Benin-based ODEM association of journalists has criticised these detentions, stating that the detention of journalists is “prohibited, except in cases of incitement to crime and offences against public order.”
These incidents follow the case of Beninese cyberactivist Steve Amoussou.
In August 2024, Amoussou, accused of running a government-critical account, was reportedly abducted in neighbouring Togo, brought back to Cotonou, and subsequently sentenced to two years in jail in June.
