The two French filmmakers who were detained in Togo returned to France on Thursday

The two French filmmakers who were arrested in late July in Togo, where they are being prosecuted for "false statements," have been allowed to leave the West African country following their provisional release, the French Foreign Ministry announced Thursday. They will return to France Thursday morning, according to a diplomatic source.

They were arrested on July 27 in northern Togo where they were filming a documentary for France Télévisions. The two French directors, Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, prosecuted in the West African country for "false statements," will return to France this Thursday morning, a diplomatic source told AFP.

"They will be on French territory in the next few hours," the source indicated.

They had been allowed to leave the territory of this West African country following the provisional release granted to them, the French Foreign Ministry had announced earlier.

"Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, filmmakers arrested in Togo on July 27, 2026, were notified of a decision to be released on bail on September 1, with authorization to leave the territory," the spokesperson for the Quai d'Orsay announced in a statement.

Pascal Confavreux had not specified at the time when their return would be effective.

"This is a great relief for their loved ones and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, which fully mobilized for this outcome," he added.

Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani, along with their Togolese collaborator Fred Vedomey, were arrested while filming an episode of "Les routes de l'impossible" (The Roads of the Impossible), a documentary series broadcast on France Télévisions. The three men were detained in Lomé and charged with "making false statements."

"Several irregularities" according to Lomé

At the end of August, the Togolese justice system released Sebastian Perez Pezzani, who is ill, under judicial supervision, notably to receive treatment in Lomé. His passport had been confiscated.

On Tuesday evening, several Togolese media outlets reported that provisional release had been granted to Gaël Mocaër and Fred Vedomey, information confirmed to AFP on Wednesday morning by their lawyer Martial Akakpo.

No details had previously been revealed about the conditions and possible restrictions linked to their provisional release regime, particularly regarding the possibility of leaving Togolese territory.

The three men are charged with "false statements", facts which they do not admit to, according to their lawyer Martial Akakpo.

At the end of August, Lomé indicated that the justice system had "serious evidence" against them.

The Togolese authorities had mentioned "several irregularities in the preparation and execution" of their mission and notably accused the filmmakers of not having the appropriate permits, which their production company refutes, asserting that the three men were in compliance.

The Togolese justice system also accuses the three men of having used a drone, particularly in the north of the country, a region where the security situation is tense.

Since the end of 2021, the far north of Togo has been plagued by incursions from jihadists present on the other side of the border, in Burkina Faso, which has been plagued by attacks from groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

(With AFP)