third condition attached to his release, violated his right to freedom of
expression, which includes freedom of opinion and freedom of political
engagement, as well as his right to compensation;
35. The Applicant was arrested at his home, under circumstances of
unprecedented violence and brutality, while he did not put up any resistance
to his arrest, the law and order enforcement agents did not immediately
notify him of any charges. In fact, Mr. KODJO Agbéyomé Messan was
arrested and taken to the SCRIC premises, without being informed of the
reasons for his detention.
36. Even during his hearing, which began around 10am on April 21, 2020, it
was at 3:15pm that the investigators notified him of the charges, which was
the subject of an observation by one of his lawyers, who, incidentally,
requested that his observation be recorded in the proceedings, which were
not presented for the Applicant's signature until the afternoon of Thursday,
April 23, 2020, while his hearing ended the day before, around 4:30pm, with
all due reservations.
37. By failing to notify the Applicant of the charges brought against him
without delay upon his arrest at his home, the investigators failed to comply
with a substantial constitutional formality which renders his arrest arbitrary
and, therefore, his detention at the investigators’ premises also arbitrary.
b. Pleas in Law
38. The Applicant in support of his cause, cited Article 9 of Law No. 2019015 of 30 October 2019 on the Code of Judicial Organization, Article 79 (1)
of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly of the Togolese Republic
(5th edition January 2019), all in force in Togo; Articles 9 (2), 5, 6, 7, 26 and
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