French justice acquits the letter from the Continent sued for defamation by Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Ouattara, the Ivorian president.
AFP / File
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2 min
The Ivorian president had lodged a complaint more than 3 years ago against the bi-monthly, now merged within Africa Intelligence, for a brief published in August 2017. It mentioned a sovereign fund of 520 million euros from which it would have benefited The head of state.
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In the first part of its decision, the court states it in black and white: "
The words prosecuted are defamatory towards Alassane Ouattara
".
He thus notes several terms which "
impute to the President of the Republic to use in his interest and according to his good will funds of a substantial amount [...] composed of public money.
"
It is also insinuated that he increased the amount of these funds which he uses without control, his brother being opportunely in charge of their management as Minister of Presidential Affairs
", further specifies the judge.
He therefore concludes that it is indeed "
undermined the honor and the consideration
" of Alassane Ouattara since the behavior described "
is akin to the offense of embezzlement of public funds
”.
The letter from the Continent
is however relaxed.
In the second part of the decision, the court explains in fact that the journalist must benefit from “
the excuse of good faith
”, citing several criteria: the article concerned “
a debate of general interest
” - the employment of public funds-, the tone was "
moderate
", and above all, "
its factual basis was sufficient
".
The judge points out in particular that the figures contained in the brief on the amount of the fund in question are indeed in accordance with the 2017 finance bill, and that “
the lack of precision of the budget documents justifies the questions and the suspicion of which the article is echoed
”.
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Ivory Coast
France
Justice
Alassane Ouattara
Freedom of press