(independantexpress.net)
The legal setbacks of the candidate of the Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development (MPDD) continue. He was heard by the Central Criminal Investigation and Research Service (SCRIC) of the Gendarmerie on numerous charges. This arrest of the opponent, who came second in the presidential election on 22 February, provoked a live reaction among the political class, among the religious and within civil society.
The impact of the health crisis linked to Covid-19 is certainly significant, but it does not avoid the political life of the country. The arrest of the new leader of the opposition continues to ignite the web. While many consider Agbéyomé Kodjo's actions at the end of the presidential election inappropriate, the authorities' attempt to arrest the opposition is very poorly perceived.
Members of civil society were keen to recall the urgency of the current health crisis; this arrest is therefore an outright relentlessness, useless to the evolution of the country while the epidemic of Covid-19 is still raging.
Continuing in the same vein, the Togo bishops' conference expressed dismay at the arrest of the former prime minister; strongly condemning the brutality and violence of the defence and security forces. They therefore call on the judicial authorities to release Mr Agbéyomé Kodjo, in order to focus on finding a peaceful political solution to this crisis.
In a joint statement issued on 22 April 2020, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Catholic churches in Togo reflected together on the various outcomes of the current crisis in the country. Thus they took the decision to meet the various actors of the socio-political life of the country, namely the President of the Republic, the members of the dynamic Bishop Kpodzro and the political party ANC. They then called for the release of Abenyome Kodjo in order to facilitate the planned exchanges.
Moreover, despite the heavy conflict between the National Alliance for Change (ANC) and the dynamic Bishop Kpodzro, the party has not hesitated to condemn the conditions of arrest of Agbéyomé Kodjo and calls for his rights to be respected in all stages of the proceedings.
Following the arrest of the opponent, the public prosecutor wanted, in a statement, to make clear the reasons for his arrest. For Essolissam Poyodi, the Member's deliberate refusal to respond to the SCRIC summons for the third time, citing health problems, is one of the causes of his arrest. This behaviour, in his view, reflects the candidate's contempt for the judicial authority and his assistants. He also presented himself as "head of state and supreme head of the armed forces," inviting the Army and the Togolese population to be on his side.
However, the Prosecutor of the Republic indicates that the investigation will take place in strict compliance with the principle of the presumption of innocence and the procedural rules in force in Togo.
On Tuesday, April 21, Agbéyomé Kodjo was arrested at his home by officers from the Gendarmerie's Central Criminal Investigation and Research Service (SCRIC). The Togolese opponent had been summoned three (03) in a row to be heard on certain charges. Following his refusal to appear, he was forcibly taken away by SCRIC officers.
The main charges against the opponent and his accomplices are: aggravated disturbance of public order, dissemination of false news, slanderous denunciations and damage to the internal security of the State. The MP's parliamentary immunity was lifted at a plenary session on Monday 16 March 2020.
www.independantexpress.net
Eric G.
