An international arrest warrant has been issued by Togo for the runner-up in February’s presidential elections, Agbeyome Kodjo, this has been revealed by his lawyer, Darius Kokou Atsoo yesterday.
Kokou added that he had gone into hiding in the poor West African nation fearing for his life.
While speaking on Commercial radio, Kokou said, “it is one more act of persecution of Mr Kodjo, which does nothing to shake our determination to shine the truth on this affair.”
In the same vein, the State prosecutor Essolissam Poyodi while speaking to AFP, confirmed that Kodjo’s failure to comply with a judicial summons last Friday had triggered the arrest warrant.
Kodjo, in a message to AFP, reiterated the fear that his life was in danger and said he was in hiding in Togo.
The 65-year-old has been barred from leaving the country since alleging widespread irregularities in the February 22 vote and declaring himself legitimate head of state.
He was jailed for four days in April after a police raid for failing to comply with a series of summonses, for which he invoked health reasons, his lawyers said at the time.
According to official results, the incumbent Faure Gnassingbe won a fourth term with nearly 70 percent of the vote while Kodjo, head of the Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development (MPDD), won just under 20 percent.
Kodjo, who served as premier under Gnassingbe’s father, also called on the armed forces to rise up against the government, according to the prosecutor, who said this threatened public order and state security.
