Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on authorities in Togo to release two French documentary journalists and their local fixer who have been detained in the country.
The three men were arrested on July 27 in Kara, northern Togo, while working on a documentary about the daily lives of Togolese people.
They were placed in pretrial detention on Monday and charged with making “false declarations” during immigration procedures.
Sadibou Marong, director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa office, said the journalists are being held at a detention centre in Lomé rather than a prison.
“We also know that many things have happened in this situation, in the case of these two journalists, but for us, what matters most is freedom of expression, freedom of the press,” Marong said.
“For us, it is important that the Togolese authorities are able to release these journalists.”
Marong insisted that the journalists had not engaged in any illegal activity, saying they were simply carrying out their professional duties as part of an internationally produced documentary series.
“There is absolutely nothing political, nothing illegal in what they did. This is why we are particularly insistent on the importance of their release,” he said.
The arrests come amid growing tensions between Togo and French media organisations. In April, the Togolese authorities suspended broadcasts by French state-owned outlets Radio France Internationale and France 24.
The move came as President Faure Gnassingbé faced mounting criticism over constitutional changes that critics say could enable him to remain in power indefinitely. Opposition groups have described the changes as a constitutional coup.
The detained team had been filming an episode of a documentary series for a French public television network.
Marong said the case was part of a broader pattern of difficulties faced by foreign journalists working in Togo.
“In 2024 there was also a French journalist, Thomas Dietrich, who was in Togo to do his job as a journalist, and who was arrested, tried and eventually expelled,” he said.
“We have also seen that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the international press, of all persuasions, to enter the country.”
Northern Togo has faced repeated attacks in recent years by armed groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, making the region particularly sensitive for journalists and other visitors.
