The Court of First Instance in Cotonou cleared a case of use of forged certificates on Tuesday. The accused is a young woman of Togolese nationality who was arrested and placed in prison for possessing forged certificates.
According to the facts presented during the trial, the 24-year-old accused went to the town hall for a marriage procedure. During the process, the officials detected irregularities in the documents presented and alerted the police. Besides the birth certificate and Togolese identity card, the accused also had a personal identity certificate (CIP) that she allegedly obtained from an agent of the national agency for people’s identification.
She was brought before the public prosecutor at the court of Cotonou and placed in pretrial detention. During Tuesday’s hearing, the accused did not admit to the charges. She claimed that she was unaware that the documents were forged.
In the prosecution’s request, the public prosecutor asked the court to find the accused guilty and sentence her to 6 months in prison, including 2 months of imprisonment. However, in its decision, the judge pronounced a sentence of 12 months in prison, with 3 months of imprisonment to be served.
