Two French filmmakers and their Togolese fixer, arrested on 27 July 2026 while filming near Kara, were charged with 'false statements' on 17 August; Reporters Without Borders says a court provisionally released them in early September
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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says French filmmakers Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani and their Togolese fixer were arrested on 27 July 2026 near Kara in northern Togo while filming a travel documentary for French public television. They were first placed under house arrest, then moved to pre-trial detention and charged with 'false statements' on 17 August, RSF said. RSF says they had applied for work visas and had a filming permit issued by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts; the production company also says they had the required documents. AllAfrica reported that Togo's media regulator HARC said it had received no accreditation request from the journalists and had not been told of their filming plans; other Togolese authorities had not commented on the charge in the reports reviewed. France's foreign ministry confirmed the detention, said officials had visited them three times and said the two are the subject of a judicial investigation. In an update dated 2 September, RSF and the production company said Togo's courts had ordered the provisional release of all three. These are RSF's claims about the charge and permits; a court has not ruled on the charge.
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