Reckya Madougou, the Beninese opposition leader serving a twenty-year prison sentence since 2021 for “terrorism,” has vehemently denounced her detention conditions in harsh terms. “There are moments when the abuse of oppression requires protest out of survival instinct,” writes the former Minister of Justice in a letter widely circulated on social media. Madougou describes her prison regime as “illegal and ferocious.”
The letter serves as a pamphlet against the director of the Benin prison agency, “I am addressing you publicly for the sake of history,” specifies Reckya Madougou, the author of these lines. The prison chief is named explicitly along with his officer rank.
The letter begins with the question: “In what rule of law is a prisoner forbidden from calling their children and their treating physician?” Reckya Madougou reports that she was prevented from doing so on the eve of her son’s BEPC exam last year. “It is an indescribable ordeal that I am enduring,” denounces the detainee.
A Response
This letter is a response to a statement from the prison chief explaining why he had denied Madougou access to a group of opposition lawmakers on March 27, 2024. The director writes, “Madame Madougou is not subject to any visitation restrictions; she has access to her doctor. The rejected deputies did not have visiting permits.”
The concerned party contests and asserts that virtually everything is denied to her. She concludes her letter with these words: “I make this denunciation so that no one will suffer it tomorrow, even those who subject me to it today.”