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Olivier Boko, a businessman and longtime friend of President
Patrice Talon, and Oswald Homeky, a former sports minister, were
found guilty of “conspiracy against state security" and
"corruption of a public official” by the court for financial
crimes and terrorism in the capital, Cotonou.
The sentence was handed down on Thursday night. Both men were
arrested in September after being accused of bribing the
commander in charge of the president’s security to carry out a
coup.
Homeky was caught while allegedly handing over six bags of money
to the head of the presidential guard, according to Elonm Mario
Metonou, the special prosecutor at Benin’s court for financial
crimes and terrorism.
During the trial, the head of the presidential guard, Col.
Djimon Dieudonne Tevoedjre, said that he was approached by
Homeky in September to plot a coup against Talon.
Boko, often seen as Talon’s “right-hand man,” was accused of
being the mastermind behind the coup attempt and was arrested
separately. Several politicians, including Homeky, had expressed
support for Boko's potential run in the country’s 2026
presidential election.
A third man, Rock Nieri, Boko’s brother-in-law who is on the
run, was sentenced in absentia on the same charges.
While Benin has been among the most stable democracies in
Africa, opposition leaders and human rights organizations have
accused Talon of using the justice system to attack his
political opponents after taking office in 2016 and changing
electoral rules to enable him to consolidate power in 2021.
Following his reelection three years ago, Talon promised not to
seek a third term in office in the 2026 election. Benin’s
constitution limits the number of presidential terms to two.
Lawyers for the defendants were absent during the verdict,
having withdrawn earlier in protest of the court’s composition.
In addition to the 20-year sentence, the court also ordered the
three men to pay 60 billion CFA francs ($95 million) in damages
to the Beninese state.
They were also handed individual fines of 4.5 billion CFA francs
($6.8 million) each.
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