FAILED COUP CASE IN BENIN: Angela Kpeidja Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒚 6, 2026, 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎 (𝑪𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑻) 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒂 𝑲𝒑𝒆𝒊𝒅𝒋𝒂 𝒕𝒐 24 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏, 12 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 7, 2025. 𝑰𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 2 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝑭𝑨 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒔, 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒆 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔.
The court also ordered the permanent confiscation of her iPhone and MacBook, while allowing her to return a second laptop. During the hearing on May 11, 2026, the prosecution presented the incriminating writings. In one message, the journalist asked: « Where is the one who usually sells the seeds of a coup? » In the second, she asked, « Where is the Chief of Staff? »
The representative of the special prosecutor condemned these remarks as « aggressive and intentional, » intended, in his view, to « humiliate the authorities in charge of security in Benin. » The prosecutor’s office took the opportunity to remind media professionals of their ethical obligation to disseminate only rigorously verified information.
✍️ By Joseph HOUNKPATIN (Intern)
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