On May 16, 2015, supporters of some political parties insulted and physically attacked Aimee Gbotso, a female journalist with privately-owned Nana FM in Togo.
The MFWA’s correspondent in Togo reported that Gbotso was covering a protest by an alliance of opposition political parties, Combat pour l’Alternance Politique en 2015 (CAP 2015), when supporters rained insults on her and pushed her about. Gbotso consequently left the meeting grounds.
CAP 2015 is made of five political parties including l’Alliance Nationale pour le Changement (ANC), whose member Jean-Pierre Fabre stood as CAP 2015’s presidential candidate at the Togolese Presidential elections in April.
The May 16 protest was organised to denounce an alleged rigging of votes during the elections.
Meanwhile, the National Union for Independent Journalists of Togo has condemned the attack on Gbotso.
“These acts of violence either physical or verbal against men and women from the media during political demonstrations have become recurrent and seriously undermine the freedom of expression in our country”, the Union said in a statement.
