In Benin, a deeply moving plea from a 10-year-old girl has captured national attention and stirred public debate.
Goudjo Mira, a CM2 student, penned a handwritten letter on May 8, 2025, addressed directly to President Patrice Talon, pleading for the release of her parents, who have been imprisoned since July 2022 in connection with the controversial “Tiens Ds Com” case.
The letter, which has gone viral across social media platforms, has struck a chord with citizens and human rights observers alike. Mira’s parents, Goudjo Élisée and Agassou Chantal, were sentenced by the Court for the Repression of Economic Offenses and Terrorism (CRIET), a judicial body often at the center of political and civil liberty debates in the country.
Since their arrest, Mira and her siblings have been struggling to survive in the absence of their primary caregivers. In the letter, the young girl paints a heartbreaking picture of her daily life, marked by hardship, hunger, and instability. “We have difficulty getting enough to eat,” she writes. “We are often expelled from school.”
With remarkable maturity, Mira expresses her emotional turmoil and the challenges her family faces, while also demonstrating a clear understanding of the President’s constitutional authority. “I have cried a lot, my tears have flowed too much, but now I no longer intend to stand idly by,” she states in a poignant appeal.
The letter closes with a note of cautious hope: “I know that the President of the Republic can pardon the prisoners and give them back their freedom.”
The child’s powerful message has ignited a wave of sympathy and discussions on justice, clemency, and the human cost of political and legal proceedings. Many Beninese citizens are now watching closely, waiting to see whether the President will respond to this emotional call for mercy.
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