International warrant for two Togolese journalists should not be executed, RSF says

The court issued the international warrant for the arrest of Ferdinand Ayité, the publisher of the biweekly newspaper and website L'Alternative, and Isidore Kouwonou, its editor, after sentencing them in absentia on 15 March to three years in prison and a fine of 3 million CFA francs (4,500 euros) on charges of "contempt of authority" and "spreading mendacious comments on social media."

Ayité was initially chargedwith defamation and "contempt of authority" in December 2021 along with Fraterniténewspaper publisher Joël Egah(who died on 6 March 2022), after two government ministers filed complaints against them over a Kouwonou-hosted news programme broadcast online by L'Alternativein which they said the ministers were involved in embezzling public funds. Ayité and Egah were detained for two weeks and then released under judicial control. Kouwonou was placed directly under judicial control without being arrested first.

After Ayité and Kouwonou received a summons on 1 March notifying them that their trial would begin on 8 March, Ayité was briefly detained at the border between Togo and Benin on 4 March, when he was interrogated and, for a few moments, deprived of his passport. Knowing he would be arrested the next day, he "found a refuge and then left Togo a few days later," according to a statement issued by L'Alternative. Kouwonou took similar action and is now in a safe location.

A respected investigative reporter who is critical of Togo's government, Ayité has often been subjected to intimidationand was on a 2021 list of journaliststhat an international investigation identified as potential or actual victims of Pegasus spyware surveillance by their governments.

Ayité regards the prison sentences as a clear message to all of Togo's media. "I fear that other independent media outlets will suffer the same fate in the near future," he told RSF. "It is clear that the government, which is becoming more authoritarian by the day, no longer wants any dissent in Togo."

The court's decision was described as "iniquitous" by L'Alternative. It is "the latest chapter in the long persecution of independent journalists who are just doing their job by investigating the hidden aspects of the scandalous way this country is governed," the outlet said.

L'Alternativewas suspended for four monthsin February 2021 in response to a complaint by a government minister, and for two monthsin March 2020 in response to a complaint by the French ambassador. That same year, Ayité and his publication were fined4 million CFA francs (6,000 euros) after exposing large-scale embezzlement in connection with fuel imports into Togo, a case dubbed Petrolgate.