2. The Respondent State is the Republic of Benin (hereinafter referred to as "the Respondent State") which became a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (hereinafter referred to as "the Charter") on 21 October 1986 and to the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (hereinafter referred to as "the Protocol") on 22 August 2014. The Respondent State also deposited on 8 February 2016 the declaration prescribed under Article 34(6) of the Protocol accepting the jurisdiction of the Court to receive cases directly from individuals and NonGovernmental Organisations. II. SUBJECT OF THE APPLICATION 3. The Court was seized of the Application on 27 February 2017. The Applicant submits that, between 26 and 27 October 2016, the gendarmerie of the Autonomous Port of Cotonou and the Benin Customs authorities were alerted to the presence of a large quantity of cocaine in a container aboard the ship "MSC Sophie" transporting frozen goods. 4. Based on the information given by the Intelligence and Documentation Department of the Office of the President of the Republic of Benin, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Benin Customs, as of 28 October 2016, initiated legal proceedings against the Applicant and his three employees for trafficking eighteen (18) kilograms of pure cocaine found in a container of frozen goods imported by Societe Comptoir Mondial de Negoce (COM ON SA) of which he is the Chief Executive Officer. 5. On 4 November 2016, the Criminal Chamber of Cotonou First Class Court of First Instance Court, by Judgment No. 262/1FD-16, acquitted the Applicant and one of his employees for lack of evidence and for benefit of the doubt. The other two employees were released without charge. 6. The Applicant alleges that, in the process, the Customs Administration suspended the container terminal of the Transit and Consignment Brokerage Company (SOCOTRAC) and withdrew its customs brokerage 2