Togo/ a journalist summoned by the police

Bad times for the Togolese press. The bad news keeps coming for her. After the closure of the media, the withdrawal of receipts, heavy fines, suspicious deaths, the departure into exile of certain journalists deemed critical, the Togolese free press is playing for its survival. 

In this deleterious climate, the weekly “La Dépêche”, the oldest private publication in Togo, 30 years old, is at the heart of the storm. 3 months after the suspension imposed by the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) on this newspaper, the Publication Director was summoned again. 

According to the summons, Apollinaire Mewenemesse is requested to report on March 26, 2024 at 10 a.m. to the Research and Investigation Brigade of the General Directorate of the National Police (BRI-DGPN) for the need for a “judicial or administrative investigation” concerning him. 

The person concerned, who is currently staying in his native village in Kara and whom the Togo Scoop Editorial team has contacted, confirms that this summons would be an extension of the affair for which his newspaper has already been sanctioned. 

“I expected that because initially, that was the complaint that we should file but they said to themselves that it would be to their disadvantage and so they chose the HAAC for the sanction. Now, as the file was also so (…), they would have activated the children of Abdou Assouma to file a complaint,” declared our interlocutor from Kara. 

If this new procedure continues, it begs the question for a case that has already been sanctioned and the communication code applied, can justice still rule? Are we heading towards a double punishment in a country where press offenses are in theory decriminalized? 

Since 2004, Togo has been the pioneer in the decriminalization of press offenses in French-speaking Africa. But in recent years we have seen a regression in the field thanks to a new provision inserted in the new press and communication code which removes social media from the scope of this code. Fortunately here, the weekly “La Dépêche” published the information in question in its article. 

Note that in its publication dated February 28, 2024, the weekly published an article entitled: “The villainous assassination of Colonel Madjoulba, and if General Félix Kadangha Abalo was Captain Dreyfus of Togo?”. In this article, the editorialist returned to the assassination of Colonel Madjoulba, questioned the author of the murder before publishing a letter whose authorship is attributed to the President of the Constitutional Court, Abdou Assouma. 

Source:Togo Scoop info