Togo Places Two French Filmmakers and Their Local Fixer in Pre-Trial Detention Over Documentary Shoot

An arrest that has stretched more than three weeks

Togolese authorities have placed two French filmmakers, Gaël Mocaër and Sébastien Perez-Pezzani, and their Togolese fixer, Fred Vedomey, in pre-trial detention, more than three weeks after the trio was first taken into custody. The two Frenchmen and their Togolese collaborator were arrested on July 27 while filming in a market in Kara, a town roughly 20 kilometres from the Togo-Benin border in the country's north, and have now been held without resolution for over 20 days, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

From a market shoot to a judicial case
Mocaër and Perez-Pezzani had travelled to northern Togo to film an episode of "Les Routes de l'impossible," a documentary series broadcast on France 5, part of the France Télévisions group, and produced by Tony Comiti Productions. The pair were working on a segment about the dangerous roads of northern Togo and the drivers who supply isolated villages, accompanied locally by Vedomey, a Togolese fixer who regularly works with foreign media.

Police in Kara stopped the three men, questioned them separately for several hours, and confiscated their equipment and passports before placing them under house arrest until July 30. They were then briefly released, only to be detained again the same day. On August 17, an investigating judge in Lomé ordered all three held in pre-trial detention and charged with making "false declarations," RSF said. They are being held at the Agoè Logopé camp near Lomé.

Tony Comiti, founder of the production company, told France Inter that the pair's filming permits and visas "were all in order," and suggested they may have unknowingly crossed into an area off-limits to journalists by a kilometre or two. Other Togolese reporting, however, has raised a competing account: that the two Frenchmen entered the country on ordinary tourist visas despite carrying out what was clearly professional filming work, and that Togo's media regulator, the Haute Autorité de l'Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC), says it received no accreditation request for their mission. Local sources have also pointed to a possible dispute over their residence permits.

A politically sensitive backdrop
The area around Kara sits within a stretch of northern Togo that has, since late 2021, faced periodic incursions by jihadist fighters operating from across the border in Burkina Faso, a security context Togolese authorities have cited in the past to restrict media access to the north.

Some Togolese outlets have floated an additional, unconfirmed theory: that the case may be entangled with Lomé's interest in the extradition of exiled Togolese journalist Ferdinand Ayité, a vocal government critic based abroad, and that his return could factor into any resolution of the Frenchmen's case. Neither the Togolese nor French government has confirmed this claim, and it should be treated as speculation circulating in Togolese media rather than established fact.

Paris says it is "fully mobilised," but the case is stalled

France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the detentions on August 18 and said a judicial investigation, led by an investigating magistrate, was underway. It said its services in Paris and Lomé were working to verify the men's detention conditions, health, and access to a defence, and that they had so far received three consular visits. As of the latest reporting, French officials describe the situation as "blocked," with no breakthrough nearly a month after the arrests.

The families of the two Frenchmen issued a statement describing their "immense worry," particularly for the men's health, and RSF has formally called for the "immediate release" of all three, describing the proceedings as "unjustified and disproportionate."

Part of a broader pattern
The case adds to a string of recent friction between Togolese authorities and foreign and domestic press. In April 2024, French journalist Thomas Pierre Dietrich was convicted of illegal entry, given a suspended sentence, and expelled with a five-year re-entry ban after covering protests over Togo's constitutional changes. In June 2025, French TV5 Monde correspondent Flore Monteau was briefly detained and forced to delete protest footage, and days later Togo suspended France 24 and RFI broadcasts for three months, citing alleged bias. Togolese domestic journalists have also faced repeated detentions over the past year amid unrest tied to President Faure Gnassingbé's continued hold on power since 2005.

Neither Mocaër nor Perez-Pezzani is new to reporting in difficult environments Perez-Pezzani has previously been detained while filming in Venezuela, and Mocaër has covered Chad and Ukraine but their current case remains, more than three weeks on, without a clear resolution or a publicly stated timeline for trial.

Mustapha Bature Sallama medical Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

References
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), "Togo: RSF calls for the immediate release of French filmmakers Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani and their Togolese fixer Fred Vedomey, who are in pre-trial detention": https://rsf.org/en/togo-rsf-calls-immediate-release-french-filmmakers-ga%C3%ABl-moca%C3%ABr-and-sebastian-perez-pezzani-and

France 24, "RSF appelle à la libération de deux réalisateurs français détenus au Togo avec leur collaborateur": https://www.france24.com/fr/afrique/20260819-deux-realisateurs-fran%C3%A7ais-arretes-detenus-togo-quai-orsay-medias-affaires-etrangeres-rsf

La Nouvelle Tribune, "Français détenus au Togo : Paris 'pleinement mobilisé', mais la situation reste 'bloquée'": https://lanouvelletribune.info/2026/08/francais-detenus-au-togo-paris-pleinement-mobilise-mais-la-situation-reste-bloquee/

Le Nouveau Reporter, "Togo /
Interpellation de deux réalisateurs français dans le Nord : ce qu'on leur reproche": https://lenouveaureporter.com/togo-interpellation-de-deux-realisateurs-francais-dans-le-nord-ce-quon-leur-reproche/

AllAfrica/CPJ, "Togo: France 24 and RFI Broadcasters Suspended in Togo for 3 Months": https://allafrica.com/stories/202506230033.html

AllAfrica, "West Africa: Togolese Authorities Expel French Journalist, Restrict Accreditation for Upcoming Elections": https://allafrica.com/stories/202405070036.html