Opposition politician in Benin jailed 20 years on drugs charges

PORTO-NOVO, Benin: A court in Benin sentenced opposition politician Sebastien Ajavon to 20 years in prison on drugs charges and issued an international warrant for his arrest.

The former presidential candidate was not at the hearing in the West African country’s administrative capital, Porto Novo, which lasted less than an hour.

His legal team has previously denounced what they said were ‘serious irregularities’ in proceedings and called the allegations ‘absurd and false’.

Ajavon came third in Benin’s presidential election in 2016 behind the then-prime minister Lionel Zinsou and the eventual winner, millionaire businessman Patrice Talon. He has made no secret of his desire to contest the next presidential election due in 2021 and has set up his own political party. But he has complained of being targeted by arrests and prosecutions.

One of Ajavon’s Paris-based lawyers, Julien Bensimhon, criticised the sentence after it was passed.

“We can now say there’s no rule of law in Benin,” he told AFP.

Another of his legal team, Marc Bensimhon, added: “We were expecting it (the sentence). Mr Ajavon is now in exile (in France).

“If he comes back, he will be incarcerated immediately.”

Ajavon was charged with “high-risk international drug trafficking” of cocaine worth an estimated US$16 million (14 million euros), despite having previously been cleared of any involvement.