Benin – Online Harassment: Julien Kandé Kansou pleads not guilty, case postponed

The hearing, which was brief, lasted only about thirty minutes. At the stand, Julien Kandé Kansou, dressed in a Goodluck outfit under his detention vest, responded to the allegations against him. He is accused of publishing a video on social media calling for an “electoral revolution”.

In the incriminated sequence, the activist notably stated that “fraudsters will be watched like milk on the stove”. When asked about the implications of this expression, he explained that it targeted citizens likely to vote multiple times in the upcoming elections. For him, his message was a call to civic vigilance, not an incitement to disorder. “My objective was to encourage a massive mobilization of voters to put an end to electoral fraud,” he affirmed at the dock.

Part of the video also alludes to a government member, without mentioning him by name. In response to this interpretation, Julien Kandé Kansou defended himself: “I have not singled anyone out. If a minister feels targeted, let him raise his hand.”

In a discussion revealed during the trial, Julien Kandé Kansou had exchanges with one of his friends named Julien Mitokpè. In this conversation, Julien Mitokpè tells Julien Kansou Kandé that the Minister of Finance feels he criticizes him too much.

In this excerpt, Julien Kandé Kansou referred to Romuald Wadagni’s statement that those who criticize the government will pay more for their connection to do so.

Julien Kansou Kandé also defended himself on a statement related to a “man of monopoly” in Benin. In excerpts from his phone, he indicated that this man holds a monopoly on almost everything in the country. Cotton, soybeans, the port, cashews, and even in the hotel sector, the man is reportedly well positioned.