The IPI global network is concerned by the press freedom situation in Togo after two media outlets were suspended by the country’s media regulatory body earlier this month. The incident comes amid wider fears about the environment for journalism after several opinion leaders, political opposition members, and journalists were targeted with digital surveillance less than two years ago.
On February 1, 2023, the Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC), the media regulatory body, suspended two privately owned print media houses, Liberte Hebdo and Tampa Express, for three months.
The suspension of these two newspapers underlines an increasingly repressive trend regarding press freedom over the years. This trend has resulted in growing silence and self-censorship on critical issues among journalists out of fear of reprisal or being put under surveillance.
Liberte Hebdo and Tampa Express had published articles on Prime Minister Victoire Tomegah Dogbe, alleging that her convoy caused the death of a man, and on Charles Kokouvi Gafan, the CEO of Togo Terminal, a business corporation, respectively.
Regulators claimed the publications were in breach of professional ethics. However, the HAAC move was denounced by a local media defence group as an attempt to silence critical media houses.
‘’A double decision of the HAAC which is nothing but the reflection of the muzzling of the Togolese critical press by the authorities, which decided to put the independent media under a wet blanket”, said Patronat de la Presse Togolaise (PTT) in a press release.
IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette called for the suspension to be reversed.
“Authorities in Togo should immediately reverse the suspension of Liberte Hebdo and Tampa Express”, she said. “The suspension of media outlets is a serious incursion into press freedom, and adds to the growing concerns about the protection of independent journalism in Togo.”
The suspensions follow several concerning press freedom incidents in Togo in recent years. Three journalists, Luc Abaki, Ferdinand Ayite, and Carlos Ketehou, were among people revealed to have been targeted with digital surveillance using Pegasus spyware in Togo. Carlos Ketehou of the newspaper Independent Express fled into exile after he was arrested and released following the publication of an article in 2020. In 2021, Ferdinand Ayite and Joel Egah, who worked with the media outlets L’Alternative and Fraternité, respectively, were arrested and detained over accusations of contempt of authorities and incitation to hatred and defamation. Joel Egah died two months after his release from prison.
