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Togo: Judge bans newspaper
A criminal court judge in Togo has moved to ban the distribution of Tribune d’Afrique, a bimonthly Benin newspaper, that had raised questions about the alleged involvement of a half-brother of President Faure Gnassingbé in drug trafficking. The ban was placed because of an article titled “Drug trafficking at top of the state, Togo in the network, Mey Gnassingbe fingered.” Togo-based editor Aurel Kedoté, reporter Cudjoe Amekudzi and chief executive officer Marlène de la Bardonnie have been fined and a judge has ordered the newspaper to pay 60 million CFA francs.
On 25 August, President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé filed a separate defamation lawsuit against the Indépendant Express. The weekly newspaper published articles that the president has deemed insulting. President Gnassingbé demanded 100 million CFA (approx. US$200,000) in damages over the “enormous harm” to his reputation.