In a development that has amplified existing tensions between Togo’s government and French media organizations, a prominent press freedom advocacy group confirmed Thursday that two French documentary filmmakers and their local Togolese fixer have been transferred to pretrial detention after more than three weeks of custody in the West African nation.
Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog widely known by its French acronym RSF, confirmed that filmmakers Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, alongside Togolese fixer Fred Vedomey, were formally remanded into pretrial detention this Monday. The three individuals face charges of submitting false declarations as part of their immigration processing when entering Togo, and RSF has issued an urgent call for their immediate release.
According to RSF’s account of the incident, the two French filmmakers were on location shooting an installment of a documentary series for France Télévisions, France’s national public television network, when Togolese law enforcement moved in to arrest the full crew on July 27. The arrest took place in Kara, a region in northern Togo, an area that has faced repeated security challenges in recent years from insurgent attacks carried out by armed factions affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
This detention case unfolds against a shifting geopolitical backdrop in West Africa, as Togo has deepened diplomatic and military ties with Russia in recent months, aligning itself with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — three Sahel nations that have expelled French military forces, sidelined French political influence, and built closer strategic partnerships with Moscow. Last year, Togo and Russia signed a formal military cooperation agreement that establishes a framework for joint military training exercises and capacity-building programs between the two countries.
Tensions between Togolese authorities and French media have been escalating for months. In June 2025, Togolese regulators suspended all domestic broadcasts of two major French international media outlets, Radio France Internationale and France 24, for a three-month period. Officials at the time accused the outlets of publishing inaccurate, biased reporting during their coverage of nationwide public protests against long-time Togolese leader Faure Gnassingbé.
RSF has pushed back against the government’s charges, confirming that the documentary crew applied for and received official work authorization from Togo’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts to carry out their filming project. But Togo’s Culture Minister Isaac Tchiakpé has directly refuted that claim, telling The Associated Press that the crew would never have faced detention if they had secured all necessary permits and followed all required administrative protocols.
Togo’s national media regulator, the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HARC), also stated that it never received a formal accreditation request from either the filmmakers or France Télévisions, and had no advance notification that the crew planned to film in the sensitive northern region.
RSF’s account of the crew’s detention timeline adds further context: law enforcement seized all of the crew’s filming equipment during the initial arrest, held the three for three days before releasing them briefly on July 30, then moved to re-arrest the group shortly after and transfer them to the capital Lomé to face formal charges.
The press freedom organization has denounced the legal proceedings against the three as “unjustified” and “disproportionate,” adding an urgent public health note: Perez Pezzani lives with a serious pre-existing chronic health condition that requires immediate, specialized medical attention that RSF says he cannot access properly in Togolese pretrial detention.