Independent French journalist, Thomas Dietrich was molested by the Togolese police then expelled from the country this Tuesday, April 16, for “illegal entry into the territory”. He came to write an article there for the newspaper Africa XXIbut it was a first video, published on his personal X account (ex-Twitter), which ignited the powder, according to him.
At the end of March, the Togolese National Assembly, largely won over to the cause of President Faure Gnassingbé due to the opposition's boycott of the 2018 election, adopted the new Constitution by a Soviet vote. This aims to establish a parliamentary regime and no longer a presidential one in this West African country. It will be up to the Togolese Parliament to elect the President of the Republic “without debate” And “for a single mandate of six years”.
In Togo, presidential elections are regularly the scene of challenges to those in power. The vote on the new Constitution resulted in the postponement of the date of the legislative elections to April 29, under protests from political oppositions and civil society.
It is in this context of political tension that Thomas Dietrich presented himself at the border between Benin and Togo. He says he did not manage to obtain a journalist's accreditation there, but a visa. “I therefore entered Togolese territory on the night of April 10 to 11, hoping to obtain accreditation later”, relates the French journalist. He then published on X, on April 14, a video presenting the national political context, which to date has 185,000 views.
He then went on April 15 to the Togolese High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication, in the hope of obtaining accreditation. And it's when he comes out of the building that the trouble begins for Thomas Dietrich. Two vehicles tumble down. Hooded police officers come out, pull him inside one of the two, and take him to the central police headquarters. The journalist is then molested: “One of the police officers slapped me, they ordered me to undress and then take off my wedding ring. When I refused, one of them strangled me. »
“They told me: 'You insulted our president!' »
After several hours of bullying, the journalist was finally able to warn his relatives of the situation and obtain a lawyer. On the morning of April 16, he was tried in what the Togolese authorities call “a summary procedure”. “The Kafkaesque trial lasts around thirty minutes. They didn't want to charge me for political reasons. So they chose to condemn me for “illegal entry into Togolese territory“, after stamping”Canceled“on my visa”summarizes Thomas Dietrich.
The French journalist was sentenced to six months in prison, accompanied by a suspended fine, expulsion and a five-year ban on Togolese territory. The authorities of this West African country took the opportunity to temporarily suspend the issuance of accreditations to all foreign journalists. “It was clearly my video that caused the problem. The police told me: “You insulted our president!” The rest was just a backdoor way to prevent me from covering the revision of the Constitution and France-Togo relations”says Thomas Dietrich.
Aurélien Saintoul, rebellious MP for Hauts-de-Seine and secretary of the National Defense and Armed Forces Commission, was made aware of the journalist's situation. And he declares to have been “stunned” by the reaction of the Quai d'Orsay. On the evening of April 15, he contacted the parliamentary advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Helena Robyn, who was initially reassuring about the journalist's situation. But on April 16, none of his text messages and attempted calls were answered, according to him.
“As a parliamentarian, it is legitimate to be kept informed of developments in the situation, especially as this allows us to relay the information to other concerned people. However, this was not possible”, denounces Aurélien Saintoul. Joined by Mariannethe Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted: “The ministry responded well to MP Saintoul’s requests with the elements in its possession. Alleging that the ministry demonstrated a particular level of discretion is therefore false. »
“French diplomacy is paralyzed”
According to Aurélien Saintoul, Helena Robyn ended up sending him a message in the evening. “She told me that Thomas Dietrich had an incomplete visa, transcribing almost word for word the fanciful allegations of the Togolese authorities, as if they were gospel”the MP is surprised.
The Quai d'Orsay responds: “Ms. Robyn only transcribed the charges and the sentence handed down as communicated by the Togolese authorities. It was in no way a question of issuing an assessment of the decision of the Togolese justice system but of transmitting in almost real time the latest information on the situation, at the insistent request of MP Saintoul. » The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls that the embassy “had Mr. Dietrich's lawyer on the phone on several occasions and once Mr. Dietrich himself during his short-term police custody”.
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Thomas Dietrich himself said “stunned” by the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “I spent around 29 hours in detention, that’s not really short. I had the ambassador on the phone for about 15 seconds. He wanted to know if I had been mistreated, but the judicial police officer was next to me at the time. To say that they followed the situation closely is absolutely crazy. The embassy did not respond to calls from Reporters Without Borders or journalists who were concerned about my fate between Monday and Tuesday. »
Thomas Dietrich is surprised by the public silence of the French authorities: “They have not communicated on this matter. It would be good if French diplomacy took a position on violations of a journalist's rights, rather than letting them be mistreated. She is completely paralyzed, no longer daring to say anything, for fear of offending Togo and seeing it fall into the arms of a foreign power, like Russia. There is a real loss of power in France. »
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The Quai d'Orsay responds: “Mr. Dietrich's comments are not consistent with the reality of our embassy's work to ensure its security. We would like to point out that Mr. Dietrich in his discussions with the ambassador did not express his wish to communicate about his situation. All our actions with Mr. Dietrich and his lawyer were motivated solely by our concern for French nationals abroad, and particularly journalists. » Thomas Dietrich announces his desire to file a complaint for violence against the Togolese authorities.
