Togo's government has broken its silence over the detention of two French documentary filmmakers and their Togolese colleague, asserting for the first time that authorities hold "serious and consistent" evidence against them. The joint statement from Togo's justice and security ministries, issued on Saturday, came nearly a month after the three men were arrested on 27 July and more than four days after France officially confirmed the detentions.
The three men — French directors Gaël Mocaër and Sébastian Perez-Pezzani, along with their Togolese fixer Fred Vedomey — were filming an episode of "Les Routes de l'Impossible," a long-running adventure documentary series broadcast on France Télévisions. They are being held in Togo, a small West African nation bordering Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso, on charges of making "false declarations." According to the government's statement, the filming authorisation obtained from the tourism ministry was issued solely in Vedomey's name and did not include the two French nationals. Authorities also allege the crew filmed in the Savanes region and the Binah prefecture — areas excluded from their permit and considered sensitive due to the threat of jihadist attacks near Togo's northern border — and used a drone whose technical specifications had not been declared in advance.
The filmmakers' lawyer, Martial Akakpo, said his clients deny all the charges, and appeared before prosecutors on 17 August. The production company Tony Comiti Productions has maintained that the pair had fully complied with local regulations, obtaining proper filming permits and declaring their equipment to customs. The Togolese press employers' association has similarly condemned the proceedings as an inappropriate response to journalists carrying out their professional work — a criticism the justice ministry pushed back on, insisting the case concerns purely administrative violations.
Media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has renewed its call for the immediate release of all three men. The group has also raised urgent health concerns about Perez-Pezzani, who reportedly suffers from serious medical problems; a Togolese doctor warned he is at risk of developing sepsis. The families of the two French directors described themselves as "devastated" by the ongoing incarceration.
The case has drawn significant attention to the intersection of press freedom and national security restrictions in the Sahel's broader conflict zone. Togo's northern regions have faced growing instability linked to jihadist groups operating across the wider area, leading authorities to impose strict controls on access and filming. RSF and press freedom advocates argue that whatever administrative shortcomings may have occurred, criminal detention is a disproportionate response that sets a troubling precedent for journalists working across the region.