Togo expels French journalist Thomas Dietrich, suspends foreign accreditations

On Tuesday, a court in Togo’s capital Lomé sentenced Dietrich, a freelance reporter, to a six-month suspended prison sentence for illegal entry and banned him from Togolese territory. He was then taken to the country’s Benin border and expelled, according to the journalist.

Following Dietrich’s sentence on Tuesday, Togo’s media regulator, the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC), temporarily suspended the accreditation process for foreign journalists, citing “issues related to special envoy Thomas Dietrich” on April 13 and 14, and “serious shortcomings” in the coverage of Togolese political news by French broadcasters Radio France Internationale and France 24, according to a copy of the decision and news reports.

On April 14, Dietrich, on assignment with the privately owned Afrique XXI news site, announced in a video that he had arrived in Lomé on April 13 to report on political news in Togo. He had obtained a professional visa for the trip, which was revoked by Togolese authorities during his detention, according to CPJ’s review of his travel documents.

The following day, police officers with covered faces arrested Dietrich and seized his phone as he left the HAAC, according to the journalist. After searching his hotel room, police took Dietrich to an unnamed building where they forcibly removed his wedding ring, slapped, stripped and accused him of “speaking badly about the president,” said Dietrich, adding that his ring and phone were returned by police the following day. 

Last week, the publishing director of the weekly newspaper La Dépêche, Apollinaire Mewenemesse. was released under judicial supervision after two weeks in detention on various anti-state charges. Earlier in March, the HAAC also suspended La Dépêche for three months.

“Press freedom is paramount at this critical juncture in Togolese politics,” said CPJ Africa Program Head Angela Quintal. “Authorities must identify and hold accountable the police officers responsible for abusing Thomas Dietrich and permit both foreign and Togolese journalists to cover current political news.”

On March 25, the Togolese parliament passed a constitutional amendment to change the way the president is chosen, from direct election by the public to appointment by deputies of the National Assembly. Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, who succeeded his father after his death in 2005, asked the assembly for a second review of the reform and postponed regional and legislative elections originally scheduled for April 20 to April 29.

Togolese authorities banned a series of protests planned by opposition political parties against the reform on April 12 and 13. Earlier on April 7, the Togolese government warned that authors of what it determines to be false news spread by “traditional and social media” about the electoral process and constitutional reform would be “exposed to the rigors of the law.”

Reached by email, Badjibassa Babaka, a spokesperson for the HAAC, forwarded a copy of the regulator’s decision and added that the reasons of HAAC’s position were mentioned in it.

Yaovi Okpaoul, director of Togo’s National Police, declined CPJ’s request for a response citing that “he knew nothing about what had happened.”