Published: Thu, 11 September 2025
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The European Parliament has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on the case of Abdoul Aziz Goma, an Irish citizen arbitrarily detained in Togo since 2018. The resolution, negotiated on behalf of the EPP Group – the largest political group in the Parliament – by Seán Kelly MEP, condemns the brutal and unlawful imprisonment of Mr. Goma and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. It was passed today in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Goma was arrested for temporarily housing protestors from the countryside around Lomé who had come to the city to march for democratic reforms. After 6 years in pre-trial detention, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a one-day trial which MEP Kelly described as making ”a mockery of justice”.
Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday, the leader of the Fine Gael Delegation recounted the conditions in Lomé prison “Years of torture have left their mark on Abdoul’s body to the point that he has lost the use of his legs. Prisoners are beaten, electrocuted and denied medical care. They must sleep sitting up due to the severe overcrowding. Many die in silence.”
On 27 August 2025, Mr. Goma began a hunger strike to protest his wrongful imprisonment and that of other political detainees.
Opening the debate, Kelly quoted Mr. Goma’s own words: “I sacrifice my body to alert the world to the injustice we are experiencing. This fight is not just mine: it is that of all those who refuse arbitrariness. I urge you not to look away.”
“As an Irish MEP, I cannot and will not look away,” Kelly said. “Abdoul’s courage in the face of torture and injustice should shame those responsible for his imprisonment. His persecution, and that of countless others, is a stark reminder that authoritarian regimes such as the Gnassingbé family in Togo rule by fear. But a government that feels threatened by peaceful protestors and human rights defenders shows only its own weakness.”
MEPs have collectively urged Togolese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Goma, and that the authorities facilitate his urgent medical evacuation.
