Benin: Rejection of a request for release in the Richard Boni Ouorou case – La Nouvelle Tribune

The Court for the Repression of Economic and Terrorism Offenses (CRIET) rejected a request for automatic release on Thursday, July 16, 2026, for one of the co-defendants of Richard Boni Ouorou. Lawyers challenged the legality of the extension of pretrial detention, but the investigative chamber did not follow their reasoning. Richard Boni Ouorou and two others have been prosecuted for corruption of public officials and money laundering since their pretrial detention on May 22, 2025. The prosecution accuses them of providing funds to obtain approval for a political party.