Journalist Appolinaire Mewenemesse was arrested on March 28 and jailed on multiple charges including defamation. These charges were brought by public prosecutor Mawame Talaka after an article by Mewenemesse in La Dépêche that questioned the verdict in the murder trial of an army officer. Earlier, on March 4, Togo’s media regulator had suspended La Dépêche for three months over the same article. Mewenemesse faced charges of defamation and offence to the head of state, as well as defamation of courts and tribunals under both the Press and Penal codes, resulting in a fine of approximately 4,650 euros. Despite the decriminalization of press offences in Togo’s press code, numerous journalists have faced prosecution and sentencing under the Penal code. Mewenemesse was released on April 9.