French filmmakers and local fixer freed after weeks in Togo detention
Gaël Mocaër, Sebastian Perez Pezzani and their Togolese collaborator Fred Vedomey were arrested on 27 July while making an episode of Les Routes de l'impossible, a documentary series broadcast by France Télévisions, the French public broadcaster.
Perez Pezzani, who was ill, was the first to be freed under judicial supervision in late August so he could receive medical treatment in the capital Lomé. His passport was confiscated.
Mocaër and Vedomey were freed late Tuesday. No details had emerged by Wednesday about any conditions or restrictions attached to their provisional release.
Togo says it has 'serious' evidence against detained French journalists
Provisional freedom
“Their continued detention is no longer necessary to establish the truth,” one of their lawyers told RFI.
All three men have been charged with making “false statements”. Togolese authorities said in late August that the justice system had “serious evidence” against them and cited “several irregularities in the preparation and execution” of their assignment.
The authorities have also accused the men of using a drone, particularly in northern Togo, where security is tense because of repeated jihadist attacks.
The three men do not accept the accusations against them, their lawyer said. Their production company, Tony Comiti Productions, also maintains that they had the necessary paperwork.
Rights group calls for release of two French journalists held in Togo
Disputed paperwork
The documentary had received filming authorisation from Togo's tourism, culture and arts ministry on 19 June in Vedomey's name, French daily Le Monde reported.
But the two French filmmakers had not made a proper application for press accreditation, Togo's Communication Minister and government spokeswoman Florence Kouigan said.
“They did not present themselves as journalists and their fixer did not mention their identities and professions as part of a film crew,” another Togolese ministerial source told Le Monde. The source also alleged they had concealed where they were staying and said they were not arrested in the locations where filming was supposed to take place.
The filmmakers and their lawyer have disputed those claims.
“They are accused of making inaccurate statements during the administrative procedure,” Martial Akakpo said. “But they are not journalists and they had authorisation to film their documentary.”
Press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders welcomed the news.
“We express our relief and hope Gaël and Sebastian will soon return to France to be with their loved ones after more than a month deprived of their freedom,” RSF director general Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement.