Togo: French Journalists Charged with False Statements

• French filmmakers Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, alongside Togolese fixer Fred Venum, were detained on July 27 near Kara.
• The team was placed in pre-trial detention at a military facility on August 17 and charged with making false statements.
• Production management secured visas and culture ministry permits, but media regulator HARC stated it received no press accreditation filing.
• Filming occurred in northern Togo, where a state of emergency has been active since 2021 due to cross-border security threats.

This oversight highlights a crucial statutory distinction: under HARC Togo media accreditation rules, obtaining permissions from executive ministries does not replace the legal mandate to secure statutory press accreditation directly from the media regulator.

A documentary project in West Africa has led to formal criminal proceedings after French journalists charged false statements Togo authorities lodged allegations against them. Director Gaël Mocaër and crew member Sebastian Perez Pezzani, alongside Togolese fixer Fred Venum, were apprehended on July 27 in northern Togo. The team was engaged in filming a travel series focusing on remote global terrains for the French public broadcaster France 5 when law enforcement intercepted them at a local market close to Kara, approximately 20 kilometers from the border with Benin.

Although the team was initially confined under house arrest, Togolese prosecutors escalated the case on August 17, transferring the men into formal pre-trial detention. They are currently incarcerated at the Agoè Logopé military base, situated near the capital city of Lomé, after being formally indicted for making false statements. Press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders Togo detention reports indicate growing concern over the health of Pezzani, who suffers from a pre-existing medical condition that requires immediate therapeutic intervention. Sadibou Marong, the sub-Saharan Africa director for the organization, condemned the ongoing incarceration as excessive and unwarranted, stressing that the documentary crew was executing standard journalism with no political objectives. Meanwhile, officials from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that consular representatives have visited the detained citizens, who remain subject to an ongoing judicial investigation.

The central legal issue in the Gaël Mocaër Sebastian Perez Pezzani arrest stems from conflicting regulatory compliance standards between government departments and the national press authority. According to Patrice Lucchini, director-general of the production outfit managing the project, the media crew had fulfilled all perceived entry requirements. The journalists had secured valid work visas, declared their broadcasting gear to customs authorities, and obtained a formal filming authorization from Togo's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts.

Despite these approvals, the High Authority for the Regulation of Written, Audiovisual and Digital Communication—often referred to as the High Authority for Communication Togo HARC—issued a statement revealing that the team failed to submit a formal application for press credentials. The media regulator emphasized that it had received no prior notice of the journalists' entry into the country, was unaware of their professional credentials, and had not been briefed on their planned production schedule in the northern territory. This oversight highlights a crucial statutory distinction: under HARC Togo media accreditation rules, obtaining permissions from executive ministries does not replace the legal mandate to secure statutory press accreditation directly from the media regulator.

The geographical setting of the arrest significantly heightened the regulatory breach into a high-stakes legal matter. Northern Togo has been subjected to a formal state of emergency due to recurring security threats and incursions by militant jihadist groups originating from neighboring Burkina Faso since 2021. In sensitive regions governed by elevated security decrees, failure to adhere to Togo state of emergency foreign media compliance protocols drastically increases the risk that administrative omissions will be interpreted through a national security lens, leading to prolonged pre-trial detention rather than civil fines or administrative deportation.

This case also highlights broader diplomatic and institutional tensions surrounding foreign news coverage in the region. Relations between Togolese regulators and international outlets have grown increasingly strained, evidenced by the prior suspension of major French public broadcasters RFI and France 24 in June following official allegations regarding biased reporting standards.

Media lawyers and compliance officers advising international crews must ensure foreign journalists obtain explicit statutory accreditation from Togo's media regulator (HARC), as ministerial permits alone do not protect against criminal prosecution. Additionally, operating within northern Togo's state-of-emergency zones elevates administrative filming lapses to serious national security and pre-trial detention risks.

Source: Original reporting via RFI and RSF statements.