In Togo, a journalist imprisoned since March 28 following the publication of an article on the death of a close friend of the president, Faure Gnassingbé, was released on Tuesday April 9, his lawyer reported to the Agency France-Presse. “Apollinaire Mewenemesse is released under judicial supervision. We have submitted a request for release today. [mardi] after his interrogation »declared Darius Kokou Atsoo.
Apollinaire Mewenemesse, 71 years old, publication director of the newspaper The Dispatch, was prosecuted for seven charges, including “creation and publication of false news” with the aim of inciting “the population or the army to rise up against the State”, “apology against national defense and the security of the State”, “publication through the written press of a writing having damaged the honour, dignity and consideration of the President of the Republic”. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced a “disproportionate decision” and demanded the “immediate release” of the journalist.
The newspaper The Dispatch had been suspended on March 4 for three months by the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) for “incitement to tribal hatred”, “call for ethnic confrontation between officers in the army” and “incitement to the popular revolt” after the publication of an article entitled “The villainous assassination of Colonel Madjoulba. What if General Félix Kadangha Abalo was Captain Dreyfus of Togo? “.
Colonel Bitala Madjoulba, commander of the 1er rapid intervention battalion (BIR), was found dead in his office on May 4, 2020, the day after the inauguration of President Gnassingbé. The autopsy of the body revealed a gunshot wound. This soldier with a prestigious career was part of the restricted circle of the Head of State. His death caused a stir in Togo and, in November 2023, five soldiers, including a general, were sentenced to sentences ranging from five to twenty years in prison.
Two Togolese journalists were imprisoned for eighteen days in November for “defamation” of the Minister of Urban Planning, Kodjo Adedze. In March 2023, two other journalists were sentenced in absentia to three years in prison by the Lomé high court for “contempt of authority” and “spreading falsehood on social networks” following complaints from two ministers, including Mr. Adedze.