O n never has there been so much talk about information that doesn’t exist says Fabrice Arfi, head of the research division of media part. On the afternoon of November 22, the information and research site held a press conference to denounce a ” unprecedented attack on press freedom “.
Yesterday, the Paris court sent a letter to the general manager of Mediapart – and surprisingly not to the editorial director of the publication – a precautionary order to the journalists of don’t post his new revelations about the political practices of the mayor of Saint-Étienne and which would worry several local elected officials, including Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
It is about a prior censorship, decided without adversarial debate as part of an ordinance signed on the same day as the petition against the newspaper. A speed in the procedure that surprises.
” It’s strange “, launches the general secretary of Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloire, who remembers at the same time that this decision comes when the same lawyer who initiated the request against Mediapart has already obtained another request in the matter of the news portal. reflectionsconvicted on behalf of business secrets. Another curiosity: the links between the different lawyers involved in the cases in question and the magistrates.
Is it up to the courts to say whether a journalistic document is legal or not?
Mediapart’s first revelations about cases of homophobic blackmail in the sex tape of Saint-Étienne mayor Gilles Perdriau against a backdrop of corruption had caused an uproar. The intimidation of the first councilor regarding journalists had not prevented the online media from publishing edifying recordings, in particular those of the mayor’s chief of staff who took over.” criminal practices “.
Not all recordings had been published. Among them, however, new revelations –“ which have nothing to do with the private lives of elected officials” we insist on the side of Mediapart – and that they question the political practices of local elected officials. These recordings were made by Gilles Artigues, the same man pressured by the mayor of Saint-Étienne and his entourage.
Press: a special right
If we are to believe the succinct letter of justice to the Mediapart management, these recordings would be considered “illegal”. ” Is it up to the courts to say whether a journalistic document is legal or not? asks Arfi. Everything that refers to the press depends on a specific right and that is not that of a ” sock company Edwy Plenel laughs. This right belongs to the press.
And this is the whole problem of this case: They consider the press as a commodity like any other “, worries Dominique Pradalié, president of the International Federation of Journalists. The case is unprecedented, as Arfi reminds us: ” The moment is solemn and serious. This is the end of the freedom of information regime as we have known it since 1881. “.
The issue is not Mediapart, or journalism, but democracy and the right to know. We live in an Orwellian moment.
And to continue: “The question is not media part, not journalism, but democracy and the right to know. We live in an Orwellian moment”. For press law professionals, the court ” he lost his compass “. And the lawyer media partEmmanuel Tordjman, to conclude: ” This court decision is draconian. It is extremely rare.” “There was no adversarial procedure and we prohibited information in advance “, insists the lawyer.
The many supporters. Most of the SDJ in the written and audiovisual press gave their support. days offered to publish, out of solidarity, to all media, the elements of Mediapart’s investigation. A proposal supported and relayed by Politics i release. When asked about this outpouring of solidarity, the founding president of Mediapart, Edwy Plenel, welcomed the gesture and specified: The law must not be skipped (…). We must win the battle “.
According to teacher Tordjman, the court order automatically prohibits any publication of the research, either in Mediapart or in another journalistic medium. All that remains is to win. Answer this Friday, November 25 at 2 p.m. If Mediapart lost the match, Edwy Plenel assures that they will go all the way: appeal to the Court of Appeal and then to cassation. ” To the European Court of Human Rights if necessary “.
Instead, if the court fails to comply with the order, Mediapart is ready to publish his subsequent research.