Togo

Togolese journalists Charles Kponwadan, Anani Vidzraku and Romuald Lansou were arrested for interviewing a prominent government critic without authorization.

The bi-weekly “L’Alternative” has been suspended for 4 months by Togo’s media regulator for what it terms the “publication of false information”.

Togolese journalist Carlos Komlanvi Kétohou was arrested by police in a night raid and the country’s media regulator calls for the withdrawal of the operating license of his weekly newspaper.

Togolese investigative journalist Ferdinand Ayite is being threatened and sued for defamation for exposing malfeasance in the country’s petroleum industry.

CIPESA reviews Ethiopia’s recurring internet shutdowns against the landmark ECOWAS Court of Justice ruling, declaring Togo’s 2017 internet shutdown illegal.

Polling day passed the benchmark for peace and calm during voting, but failed dismally on the digital rights scorecard when Togo shut off the internet.

In a continuing show of force against opposition demonstrators and citizens, authorities in Togo have announced a ban on political rallies in three cities in the north of the country – Sokodé, Bafilo and Mango.

An 11 year-old boy was killed by security forces in Lomé on 18 October 2017. Three more people were also killed in Sokode, some 300 km north of Lomé, as security forces cracked down on opposition protests.

Social media platforms were made completely inaccessible in Togo as opposition groups embarked on demonstrations demanding political reform.

Police in Togo cracked down on protestors demanding term limits on the presidency and an end to the “Gnassingbé dynasty.” Officials say 2 protestors were killed, while the opposition reported 7 deaths.

Gendarmes in Lomé attacked members of students’ rights group Ligue Togolaise des Droits des Etudiants (LTDE) with batons and tear gas before proceeding to arrest their leader, Satchivi Foly, and several other members.

Attempts by gendarmes in Togo to disperse thousands of taxi and commercial motorcycle drivers who were demonstrating against fuel price increases in Lomé left one person dead and several others injured.

Article 497 of the law proposes a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine up to 2 million CFA francs for “the publication, dissemination, or reproduction by any means whatsoever of false news, fabricated parts, falsified or falsely attributed to third parties where, in bad faith, this disturbs the public peace, or is likely to disturb it,” according to news reports.

Students were arrested and injured in clashes with gendarmes after trying to protest “arbitrary criteria” that the University of Lomé has introduced for granting scholarships.

Oliver Poko Amah, a former senior officer of the Togolese Gendaremie, has been detained and charged with “inciting the military to revolt”. He was charged after allegedly stating on the radio that the Togolese Armed Forces should play the role of an arbiter.

Koffi Djidonou Frédéric Attipou was injured in a hit-and-run attack on 3 April 2013. Attipou said that an occupant of one of the vehicles threatened him for being “one who sullies the image of the country by sending images abroad.”