249.
The Court notes, moreover, that the Applicant invokes the brutalities he
allegedly suffered without providing a description of the acts that supposedly
constituted such brutalities, and that, having refused to board the police pick-up
van, the Applicant arrived at his place of detention in his own car.
250.
The Court therefore holds in conclusion that the conditions of the Applicant's
arrest did not violate Article 5 of the Charter.
ii. The allegation that the remarks made by the Head of State tainted the
Applicant's reputation and dignity
251.
Article 5 of the Charter provides that "Every individual shall have the right to the
respect for the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status.
All forms of exploitation and degradation of man, particularly slavery, slave trade, torture,
cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment shall be prohibited".
252 .
It is apparent from the documents on file, particularly the transcript of audio and
audio-visual recordings, that on several occasions after the Judgment of 4
November 2016, the Head of State had , for example, on 11 November 2016, made
statements regarding the case of cocaine trafficking without equivocation as to the
fact that he had been acquitted on the benefit of the doubt.
253.
In this respect, on 11 November 2016, that is a few days after the judgement
acquitting the Applicant, the Head of State stated as follows: "from the events that
occurred a few days ago, I realised the amount of pressure coming from my citizens, and
from a good number of political authorities as well as important personalities to accept
what is not admissible. Are we ready to fight against impunity? Me, I do not have the
impression... When you are involved in wrongful acts which are apparent in the
community, the global community will sanction you". Speaking on the RFI radio station
on 16 April 2017 in response to questions put by a journalist, he stated that "Mr.
Ajavon finds himself faced with what you have just mentioned (involved in the case of 18
kilograms of cocaine) and did not find anything better".
I