A Togolese court ordered Wednesday the regional magazine Tribune d'Afrique to pay more than FCFA 63m in damages to a half brother of Faure Gnassingbe for defamation.

The article titled "Drug trafficking at top of the state, Togo in the network, Mey Gnassingbe fingered" implicated the president's half-brother in a drug trafficking network.

In addition to awarding the damages, the court also banned the distribution in Togo of Tribune d'Afrique, which is edited in neighboring Benin.

The magazine's publisher, Max Carmel Savi, said they plan to appeal the court's ruling.