Two French filmmakers, Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, along with their Togolese fixer Fred Vedomey, have been detained in Togo since July 27, 2026. Arrested while filming an episode of the documentary series “Les routes de l’impossible” for France Télévisions, they were charged on August 17 with “false statements”. On Saturday, August 22, Lomé spoke out for the first time, stating that they have “serious and consistent evidence” against them. A chronicle of a case that adds to the crisis between Paris and Lomé.
An arrest during filming
The three men were arrested on July 27 near Kara, in the north of the country, while filming at a market about twenty kilometers from the border with Benin. Initially placed under house arrest, the filmmakers were placed in provisional detention and charged with “false statements” on August 17. They are being held at the Agoè Logopé camp near Lomé, a law enforcement facility.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the case on Tuesday, August 18: the two French nationals “are currently the subject of a judicial investigation conducted by an examining magistrate” and have received three consular visits since their arrest. “The services of the ministry, in Paris and in Lomé, are fully mobilized to ensure their conditions of detention, their health status, and respect for their rights to defense,” Paris stated.
The film crew was somewhat known to the Togolese Ministry of Tourism from the start. A filming authorization request, registered on June 12, 2026, and signed by Togolese producer-director Vedomey Komi Mawufemo, explicitly mentions the three men. The document, addressed to the “Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts”, lists the team: “Gael Mocaer (Director), Sebastian Perez (Cameraman), Vedomey Komi Mawufemo (local producer)”. It specifies that the 50-minute film “Les routes de l’impossible” is to be filmed “from July 10 to July 30, 2026 in the following locations: Tchamba (Tchamba 1 commune), Bassar (Bassar 1 commune), Kara (Kozah 1 commune), Nadoba (Kéran 3) and Badja (Avé 2 commune)”, and announces filming in Lomé.
In return, the permit issued by the Togolese government, dated June 19, only mentions the fixer. Similarly, the authorized perimeter is strictly limited to the aforementioned communes. The document also specifies that the authorization “must be presented to the project execution site managers” and “does not exempt the person concerned from the administrative formalities in force in the targeted localities”.
What Lomé accuses the two filmmakers of
In a statement signed by the Ministries of Justice and Security, published on Saturday, August 22, the Togolese government believes that the justice system has “serious and consistent evidence” against Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani. The charges first concern the filming authorization: according to Lomé, the two men “claimed to have an authorization issued by the Ministry of Tourism”, which “was signed in the name of Mr. Vedomey Komi only”.
Two additional grievances are added: filming in the Savanes region and in the Binah prefecture, where they were arrested—areas not included in the authorization—and using a drone “whose characteristics were not declared in advance”. The executive specifies that “the facts subject to the procedure relate exclusively to compliance with administrative provisions”.
“They were just doing their job”
The company Tony Comiti Productions, which employs them, disputes any irregularity. Its CEO Patrice Lucchini assures that the two men were “in compliance”: they had obtained a filming authorization from the Ministry of Culture and declared their equipment to customs. The team composition also corresponds to what was written in the request addressed to the minister on June 12: Gaël Mocaër director, Sebastian Perez Pezzani cameraman, Vedomey Komi Mawufemo local producer.
The program content, as declared, was also cultural and touristic: filming at the cashew factory “CAJOU ESPOR S.A” in Tchamba, traditional dances of Badja/Kévé or Kpové, the Tball dance of Bassar, the Tatas Temberma of Nadoba, as well as shots of Lomé. A “non-political” program, insists Reporters Without Borders, which considers their detention “unjustified and disproportionate” and demands their “immediate release” through its CEO Thibaut Bruttin and Sadibou Marong, director of the Sub-Saharan Africa office based in Dakar. “They were just doing their job,” insists the organization.
An already strained climate between Paris and Lomé
The case occurs in a context of tensions between France and Togo. RFI and France 24 have been off the air since June 2025, accused of relaying “inaccurate and tendentious remarks” after anti-government demonstrations; they still cannot broadcast.
It is worth noting that Togo ranks 97th out of 180 in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index. According to Sadibou Marong, “it is becoming increasingly difficult for the international press, of all persuasions, to enter the country,” citing the precedent, in 2024, of French journalist Thomas Dietrich, who was arrested and then expelled.
Furthermore, the northern part of Togo, where the filming took place, remains vulnerable to incursions by jihadist groups from neighboring Burkina Faso—a region under extended state of emergency.
