Togo says it has 'serious' evidence against detained French journalists
In their first official statement on the case, released on Saturday, Togo's ministries of justice and security accused the team of not having the proper permits to film.
The three men were arrested on 27 July while shooting a travel documentary in northern Togo for French television.
The government says their paperwork was only in Vedomey's name and did not authorise them to film in locations they visited in the Savanes region and Bimah prefecture, where they were detained.
They are also accused of using a drone "whose specifications had not been declared in advance".
A lawyer for the journalists, Martial Akakpo, told French news agency AFP his clients denied all the allegations. Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of French documentary filmmakers Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, who were detained in July along with their Togolese fixer, Fred Vedomey.
Rights group calls for release of two French journalists held in Togo
Press freedom concerns
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Mocaër and Vedomey remain in pre-trial detention in Togo's capital, Lomé, while Perez Pezzani was moved to house arrest earlier this week.
He is suffering from serious health problems and required urgent care, the media rights group said.
RSF has called the men's detention "unjustified and disproportionate", while the Togolese Press Association demanded their immediate release, saying the case risked damaging Togo's international reputation.
The government's statement said the case was not connected to the editorial nature of what the team was filming, nor an attempt to restrict press freedom, but represented simply the enforcement of administrative procedures.
Togolese authorities consider the areas where they were shooting sensitive due to the threat of jihadist attacks. Parts of the north are subject to a state of emergency due to incursions by Islamic militant groups over the past five years, particularly from neighbouring Burkina Faso.
French media has also faced pressure from Togo's government in recent years.
RFI and fellow public broadcaster France 24 remain off the air after being suspended in June 2025 over an alleged lack of impartiality.