Bolloré sentenced for abusive procedure against a journalist: confirmation on appeal - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed on Wednesday the conviction for the abusive procedure of the Bolloré group, which sued a French Inter journalist and the former director of Calmann-Lévy editions for a passage from the collective work "Informer n ' is not an offense ".

In May 2019, the Paris Criminal Court had acquitted Benoît Collombat and Florence Sultan. Only the Bolloré group, civil party, having appealed, this release was final and the court ruled only on the civil level.

This text, written by Mr. Collombat and published in 2015 in the book "Informing is not a crime" alongside the writings of other journalists, equated the Bolloré group's strategy against the media to "driftnets" .

Mr. Collombat described the lawsuits launched by the group for extracts from a long report broadcast in 2009 on France Inter and entitled "Cameroon, the black empire of Vincent Bolloré". These lawsuits had resulted in a conviction of the radio station and its journalist in 2010 for defamation.

On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Bolloré group's pecuniary claims, considering that if certain passages could be considered defamatory, Mr. Collombat and Mrs. Sultan could be cleared for their "good faith", having produced enough 'elements supporting their statements.

The judges also confirmed the condemnation of the group for "abuse of constitution of civil party", to pay 9,000 euros in damages to Mr. Collombat and 1,000 euros to Ms. Sultan.

This "abuse of constitution of civil party is characterized", estimated the court.

"The remarks pursued by the Bolloré company are based on numerous articles and testimonies," observe the magistrates. "The practices denounced, in particular the working conditions in the palm groves and the pressure on witnesses", are attested "by OECD reports" and were already at the heart of the 2010 trial, they said.

The billionaire Vincent Bolloré and his group, customary of the procedures against journalists or media, have already been condemned for "abusive procedure" in other files.

© 2020 AFP