He should be paid 20,000 euros by France. The conviction by French justice of an environmental activist for slanderous denunciation against Olympique Lyonnais (OL) was disproportionate and infringed his freedom of expression, estimated the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) .
France must pay 10,000 euros "for material damage" to Etienne Tête, as well as 10,000 euros "for costs and expenses", decided on Thursday the judicial arm of the Council of Europe, headquartered in Strasbourg.
Unanimously, the judges of the court considered that “the interference in the exercise of the right to respect for the freedom of expression of Mr. Tête was not proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued (namely, the protection reputation or rights of others) ".
Early environmental activist, Etienne Tête, former deputy to the socialist mayor of Lyon, Gérard Collomb, from 2001 to 2009, was fiercely opposed to the Grand Stade de Lyon project, defended by the president of OL Jean-Michel Aulas. The stadium, now called Groupama Stadium, was inaugurated in 2016 to host Euro-2016 football matches.
An old affair
In early 2010, the environmental activist, also a lawyer, had sent a letter to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in which he accused Jean-Michel Aulas of "knowingly underestimating the difficulties of achieving [the Grand Stade de Lyon] to promote the IPO "of OL, by providing misleading information.
The football club and its president had filed complaints for slanderous denunciation even though "the AMF had not followed up on this letter, either administrative or judicial," notes the ECHR.
The conviction of Etienne Tête to a fine of 3,000 euros (plus 5,000 euros for legal costs) pronounced in 2012 had been confirmed on appeal in 2014. He had filed an application with the ECHR in October 2016, after the rejection of his cassation appeal.
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