Héloïse Goy, with Alexis Patri 10 a.m., February 16, 2022
The magazine "L'Obs" publishes in its Thursday issue an investigation which reveals that Jean Clémentin, who was a journalist for "Le canard enchaîné" during the Cold War, was also a spy for the secret services of Czechoslovakia.
He allegedly had false information published in the satirical newspaper.
It is a story worthy of a thriller that reveals the magazine
L'Obs
in its issue published Thursday.
The weekly reveals the incredible double life of a journalist from Le
Canard enchaîné
during the Cold War.
Journalist by day, spy for the Czechoslovakian secret service by night.
His name is Jean Clémentin and he wrote in the satirical journal under the pseudonym "Jean Manan".
But he also had a code name: "Pipa".
The facts date back to the 1960s.
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At the origin of this investigation, the journalist Vincent Jauvert who worked on 1,500 pages of archives of the Czechoslovak secret services.
Vincent Jauvert claims that between 1957 and 1969, when Czechoslovakia was politically aligned with the USSR, Jean Clémentin (alias "Pipa") delivered no less than 300 notes to the STB (the Czechoslovak secret services).
A journalist-spy still alive
This spy paid by the Soviet camp also actively participated in three disinformation operations by publishing in
Le canard enchaîné
articles designed by these secret services.
The investigation also reveals that Jean Clémentin was even sent to London and Bonn to collect information.
At the time, this journalist was an iconic pen of the satirical weekly.
Jean Clémentin, 98, is still alive.
He did not wish to answer questions from
L'Obs
.
Today, the facts have long been prescribed and the former spy is therefore protected from any prosecution.
For its part,
Le canard enchaîné
reacted to AFP.
"We are obviously not aware, we are flabbergasted", explained the current editorial director Nicolas Brimo.