74. In the instant case, the Respondent State fails to show how the use of terms like
"machination" and "manifest interference" affects the reputation of the Head of
State . It also fails to show how the use of terms such as "interference in the
decisions of the judiciary" by the Applicant are aimed at corrupting the minds of
the public or any other reasonable person , or undermining the integrity and the
status of the President of the Republic of Benin or that they were used in bad faith."
75. The Court notes that, in the instant case, taken in their ordinary meaning, the
impugned statements are aimed simply at giving a presentation of the facts of the
Application and do not translate to personal hostility on the part of the Applicant,
neither are they insulting to the person of the Head of State of Benin or the Benin
judiciary.
76. Accordingly, the statements made by the Applicant in this Application cannot be
termed as disparaging or an attack on the Head of State of Benin and the judiciary
of that country.
77.ln view of the foregoing, the Court dismisses the objection based on the use of
disparaging language in the Application.
ii. Objection based on non-exhaustion of local remedies
78. The Respondent State submits that the present Application does not meet the
conditions of admissibility set out in Articles 56(5) of the Charter and Rule 40(5) of
the Rules. It refers to three types of remedy supposedly open to the Applicant who
chose not to exhaust them: the remedy before the Constitutional Court for violation
of human rights, the remedy provided under Article 206 of the Benin Code of
Criminal Procedure and the appeal for annulment of administrative decisions on
grounds of abuse of power.
s LoM Issa Konet« v. Burkina Faso Judgment, Merits,
I
~ / 3, ~
r
cit. § 7/
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