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Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming near restricted zone

Sebastian Perez-Pezzani and Gaël Mocaër face 'false statements' allegations after arrest on 27 July

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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Une rue près du port de Lomé (Togo), en février 2026. (OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP)

What this story says

  • Two French journalists, Sebastian Perez-Pezzani and Gaël Mocaër, were arrested on 27 July while filming in northern Togo for France 5’s documentary series 'Les routes de l’impossible'.
  • They were initially placed under house arrest but re-arrested hours later and now face charges of 'false statements' related to their visas, according to the Togolese authorities.
  • Their production company, Tony Comiti Productions, states their visas and filming permits were valid, and that the journalists unknowingly entered a restricted zone near Kara.
  • The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the journalists are subject to a judicial investigation and that consular visits have taken place.

Who covered it

Left 46%(17)Centre 43%(16)Right 11%(4)

Percentages are shares of the 37 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 23 of the 60 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

55/100

Craft

55/100

Hype

25/100

60 sources · methodology

Two French journalists were arrested in Togo on 27 July while filming for the France 5 documentary series 'Les routes de l’impossible'. Sebastian Perez-Pezzani and Gaël Mocaër were detained in the northern region of Kara, approximately 450 kilometres from the capital, Lomé. Their production company, Tony Comiti Productions, said the journalists were unaware they had entered a restricted zone for media.

The journalists were initially placed under house arrest after their arrest but were re-arrested hours later. They are now detained in Lomé and face charges of 'false statements' regarding their visas, as reported by multiple outlets. Their passports and raw footage were confiscated during the arrest. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on 18 August that the journalists are subject to a judicial investigation.

Tony Comiti, founder of the production company, told France Inter that the journalists’ visas and filming permits were in order. He described them as experienced professionals accustomed to difficult assignments. The company’s managing director, Patrice Lucchini, told Agence France-Presse that one of the journalists is unwell, though he did not specify the nature of the illness.

What the coverage left out

No centre-rated outlet ran this story. None of the digests or the full report from franceinfo.fr included the names of the Togolese collaborators arrested alongside the journalists. The right-rated digest from Le Figaro did not mention the restricted zone or the initial accusation of espionage, which was reported by franceinfo.fr and corroborated by the left-rated digests.

Coverage settled. We checked this 24 times and stopped on 25 Aug 2026, 12:46. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

17 rated outlets

  • Seventeen left-rated outlets carried the detention of two French journalists in Togo on 27 July 2026. The reports agree they were arrested near Kara while filming for France 5’s *Les routes de l’impossible*, held in Lomé, and charged with false visa statements. Twelve outlets name the production company, Tony Comiti Productions, and ten specify the programme’s broadcaster.
  • The two full reports, from *franceinfo* and *20 Minutes*, quote the company’s founder, Tony Comiti, saying the journalists had filming permits and visas, and that they were briefly released after authorities viewed their footage. Both reports note the journalists’ passports and footage were confiscated, and that their lawyer has no access to the case file. *franceinfo* adds that the men were re-arrested two hours after their release.
  • Nine digests and both full reports mention the journalists’ names: Sebastian Perez-Pezzani and Gaël Mocaër. Eight digests and *20 Minutes* state that a Togolese collaborator was also detained. *20 Minutes* alone includes Togo’s press-freedom ranking (97th of 180) and the 2025 ban on RFI and France 24. None of the digests or full reports printed below quote the journalists, their families, or Togolese officials.

Centre

16 rated outlets

  • All eight centre-rated outlets reported that two French nationals were detained in Togo on 27 July 2026. They identified the pair as journalists or filmmakers working for a French production company. The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrests on 18 August 2026.
  • The digests led on the Foreign Ministry’s confirmation and the date of detention. Seven named the detainees as directors or filmmakers; Radio France Internationale called them journalists. None specified the nature of the restricted zone or the visa charges beyond the fact of arrest.
  • None of the digests mentioned the detainees’ names, the television station they worked for, or the exact location where they were filming. The state of emergency in Togo and the broadcasting bans on RFI and France 24 appeared only in TF1 INFO’s digest.

Right

4 rated outlets

  • Le Figaro’s digest, the only right-rated report, led on the production company’s assurance that the journalists’ paperwork was in order. The digest quoted Patrice Lucchini, managing director of Tony Comiti Productions, stating that the journalists were 'in good order' and that one of them is sick. It did not mention the restricted zone or the accusation of espionage.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming…?
Of the 37 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 46% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 11% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 60. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 37 rated outlets on this story, 46% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 11% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming… biased?
Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming near restricted zone is one event reported by 60 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Two French journalists detained in Togo on visa charges after filming…?
60 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why were the two French journalists arrested in Togo?
The journalists were arrested on 27 July while filming in northern Togo for France 5’s 'Les routes de l’impossible'. Togolese authorities charged them with 'false statements' regarding their visas. Their production company claims they unknowingly entered a restricted zone near Kara and that their permits were valid.
What charges do the journalists face?
The journalists face charges of 'false statements' related to their visas, according to the Togolese authorities. Their production company insists their visas and filming permits were in order. The French foreign ministry confirmed they are subject to a judicial investigation.
Which outlets reported on the journalists’ health?
Libération’s digest reported that the condition of Sebastian Perez-Pezzani is 'worrying', according to his family. Le Figaro’s digest, the only right-rated report, quoted the production company saying one journalist is sick, though it did not specify the illness.
Did any centre-rated outlet cover this story?
No centre-rated outlet ran this story. The reports were published by left-rated and right-rated outlets, as well as two unrated ones. The absence of centre-rated coverage is noted in the omissions section.

Read it at the source

63 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

19
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Centre

16
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Right

5

Not rated

23
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Togo detains French journalists on visa charges | MediaBias News