The pediment of a courthouse.

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SICCOLI PATRICK / SIPA

Tensions around the proposed merger of the Jean Monnet University of Saint-Etienne with three components of higher education in Lyon are taking a judicial turn.

An investigation was opened for "insult and defamation" against the president of the establishment, we learned Saturday from police and judicial sources.

A vote on the merger on October 23

President Michèle Cottier declared that she "lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor after the receipt, between September 10 and 14, of two anonymous, abusive and filthy letters to (her) and to (her) team".

The investigation for "insult and defamation" has just been entrusted by the Stéphanois prosecution to the departmental security of the Loire.

The anonymous typed letters demand the departure of the president and the abandonment of the project of the University of Lyon-Saint-Etienne, whose statutes must be voted during the board of directors on October 23.

Faced with the strong opposition expressed in the Loire towards the merger project with the universities of Lyon-I, Lyon-III and the ENS Lyon, the Jean-Monnet University obtained from the government a period of one additional month to decide .

A filmed debate

"A debate will take place Monday evening within the framework of a meeting of the board of directors extended to outside personalities to weigh the advantages and the disadvantages of the merger which would allow us to keep the Idex", indicated Michèle Cottier.

The president also announced that "given the tense and aggressive climate caused by the project, the debate between the" pros "and" against "will be filmed and can be followed live by the 1,500 staff members of the UJM and its 20,000 students ”.

For several months, the political, economic and academic authorities of Saint-Etienne have expressed themselves mainly in disagreement with the governance arrangements of the future world-class university, welcoming 140,000 students, which should result from the merger of the four establishments.

Among the blocking points, the LREM deputy for Loire Jean-Michel Mis cites “in addition to the autonomy of the Saint-Etienne medical faculty, the maintenance of a moral and legal personality for the Loire university site, which should benefit of a blocking minority in the governance of the future together ”.

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