Togo: Radio station given formal notice; journalist briefly detained, threatened
Expression
Media regulator gives radio station formal notice over statements made by radio show guest
On 2nd June 2023, the Haute Autorité de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC), Togo’s national media regulator, issued a formal notice to radio station Victoire FM over its broadcast of the radio show Dukoamé bé nyadjodjowo on 23rd May 2023. According to HAAC, the guest on the broadcast, Guillaume Koko, who is the president of the Association pour le bien être Junvénile (Association for Youth Welfare – ABEJ), made “slanderous statements” consisting of false information about the social, political and economic situation in Togo. Furthermore, according to HAAC, Koko called for an insurrection and uprising of the population, and blamed Jacob Ahama, the radio host, for not having called his guest to order for going off-topic.
Prior to the formal notice, the HAAC summoned Ahama and the director of Victoire FM, which resulted in a formal apology in the following broadcast of the radio show.
Togolese authorities detain, threaten journalist Edouard Kamboissoa Samboe - Committee to Protect Journalists https://t.co/vZpQ4zfIK2
— Bokar Sangaré (@sankis68) May 10, 2023
Journalist detained, threatened
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), military officers detained Kamboissoa Samboe, journalist and founder of news site Labaali, on 30th April 2023 while he was reporting on the aftermath of a terrorist attack in the village of Waldjouaque, northern Togo. CPJ, who spoke with the journalist, said Samboe was taken to a nearby military barracks, where the journalist was interrogated, his phones seized and audio and video recordings taken that day were deleted. Additionally, the journalist said that he was subjected to threats by military officers, who reportedly said “Get him out, we’ll settle the accounts…We’re going to put him down”, and “We spared you and you are ungrateful”.
Subsequently, Samboe was transferred to the gendarmerie in Dapaong, where he was held until 2nd May 2023. He was again interrogated and forced to reveal the passwords of his phone and his Telegram account, fearing that his devices are no longer safe to use. He was released without charge on 2nd May 2023, but only on condition that he sign a document stating that he will not return to the area without first “informing” the authorities.