The five people convicted in connection with the operations of the Western Togoland foundation organisation each received the maximum punishment of five years in jail with hard labour.
The five separatists were convicted last week after more than a year of trial for attending forbidden organisation meetings, contributing to illegal organisation operations, and constituting a prohibited organisation.
The prisoners were apprehended in 2020 as part of a group of Western Togoland Foundation members who stormed a police station in Aveyime, liberated detainees, took ammunition, blocked highways heading to the Volta Region, and shot a police officer.
Prior to the sentence, counsel for the prisoners asked the court to consider the fact that the convicts had been in detention for more than two years throughout the whole course of the trial, that they were first-time offenders, and that they were young.
Nonetheless, the prosecution requested that the court impose a stiffer term in order to dissuade future defendants from planning similar crimes.
The judge remarked that the offenders’ conduct was deliberate and aggravated, thus the maximum punishment of five years should be applied.
