Urbain Dangnivo case: the trial postponed to July 8, lawyers called to submit their documents.

The trial in the Pierre Urbain Dangnivo case will continue on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. This was the main decision made following the hearing held on Friday at the Cotonou First Instance Court.

Before this next hearing, the lawyers representing the different parties have until Tuesday, July 7, 2026, to submit the list of documents they wish to be read before the court.

On July 8, the court will read these documents before hearing the lawyers’ pleadings, which is an important step in this highly publicized judicial process.

The hearing on Friday, July 3, was particularly marked by the appearance of former National Police Director General, Louis Philippe Houndégnon, who testified at the request of the defense. On the stand, he claimed to have received information from a “professional informant” stating that “it was Isidore Akon who killed Pierre Urbain Dangnivo.”

This assertion introduces a new lead in a case where Codjo Cossi Alofa had until now been presented as the main presumed perpetrator.

The former police chief also expressed regret that “politics has taken precedence over the truth,” believing that the politicization of the case has prevented some investigations from reaching their conclusion.

He also indicated that a person still alive could provide information leading to the identification of Isidore Akon and requested to communicate their identity to the Court in a closed session.

To recall, Pierre Urbain Dangnivo, an official in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, disappeared in August 2010 while returning from his workplace in Cotonou. A few weeks later, a body was exhumed in Womey, in the commune of Abomey-Calavi, but its identification was disputed by the family.

Since then, this case has been marked by confessions, controversial expert opinions, several suspensions of the trial, and numerous judicial twists. More than fifteen years after the events, it remains one of the most sensitive cases in the Beninese justice system.