Sawt Falasteen - Benin court jails two ex-allies of president for 20 years

Neither Olivier Boko, an influential businessman long considered to be Talon's right-hand man, nor former sports minister Oswald Homeky had lawyers representing them at the trial's conclusion.

Boko, who had hinted at a potential run to succeed Talon, and his fellow co-defendants were accused of plotting a coup in the small west African country. All have denied the charges throughout.

Both Boko and Homeky were arrested in September and charged with "plotting against the authority of the state, corruption by a public official and forgery".

Boko's brother-in-law Rock Nieri, who is currently on the run, was also sentenced in absentia.

Besides the two-decade sentence, the court in the capital Cotonou ordered the three men to pay the unprecedented amount of 60 billion CFA francs ($95 million) in damages to the Beninese state.

The three were also handed individual fines of 4.5 billion CFA francs.

Three others in the dock alongside them were acquitted.

The trial's opening hearing on January 21 ended in uproar when the Cotonou court ordered the defendants to find a new defence team.

Their lawyers had stormed out in protest at the make-up of the court, which consisted of three judges instead of the usual five.

The defendants argued it was impossible to find new lawyers in such a short space of time and the trial resumed on Tuesday, without a defence team.

- 'I am innocent' -

"There is no room for hatred in my heart. Everything the special prosecutor says is by inference. I am innocent," Boko told the court on Thursday morning.

During the trial, the head of the presidential guard, Colonel Djimon Dieudonne Tevoedjre, claimed to have been approached by Homeky to mount an ouster of Talon.

Boko had intimated in recent months that he could run for president in 2026, when Talon reaches the end of his second term.

Homeky has shown support for Boko's political ambitions.

The constitution prevents Talon, who has been in office since 2016, from seeking a third term in the small west African nation of some 13 million people.

Critics accuse the president of imposing increasingly authoritarian rule on a country once praised for its democracy.

In 2021, opposition politician Reckya Madougou was sentenced to 20 years jail and a fine of 50 million CFA francs for "complicity in terrorist acts".

The same year, fellow Talon critic Joel Aivo was handed 10 years and a fine of 45 million CFA francs for "undermining state security" and for "money laundering".

C.Hamad--SF-PST