Cédric Herrou, at the Nice courthouse (Archives) -

F. Binacchi / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • After being released at first instance, Cédric Herrou was sentenced this Tuesday on appeal to a fine of 2,000 euros suspended for public insult against the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti.

  • In two tweets, the militant farmer rebelled against MP LR's call to return the migrants' rescue boats to Libya.

After being released at first instance, Cédric Herrou was sentenced this Tuesday on appeal to a fine of 2,000 euros suspended for public insult against the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti (LR).

In 2018, in the midst of the diplomatic crisis following Italy's refusal to host the humanitarian ship L'Aquarius, the parliamentarian called on CNews to send back to Libya boats coming to the aid of migrants.

Cédric Herrou then reacted on Twitter, on June 12, 2018: “I found the biggest French pig which welcomes all the misery in the world !!

@ECiotti world champion !!!

"The next day, the farmer posted on his account:" When @ ECiotti said in 2018 'let's put the migrants in Libya' he would say in 1940 let's put them in the gas chambers'.

Insult but not defamation

After a complaint with the constitution of civil party filed by the boss of the Republicans in the Alpes-Maritimes for public insult and defamation against a citizen in charge of a public mandate, Cédric Herrou was released on July 8, 2020 by the criminal court of Grasse des two prosecution counts.

The court considered that this exchange was part of the political criticism between "a person particularly involved in the context of aid to migrants" and "a political figure of importance in the French political landscape".

The judges thus noted that "if this criticism was expressed in the form of a play on words - port and pork - of doubtful taste, it is undoubtedly of a political nature".

The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal only reversed the Grasse judgment for injury and confirmed the release of Cédric Herrou for defamation.

Herrou "had reacted to a much more serious provocation"

"It is regrettable that the Court of Appeal did not have the wisdom of the judges of first instance who had released Cédric Herrou," said his lawyer Me Sabrina Goldman who announced the filing of an appeal.

Cédric Herrou had reacted to a much more serious and perfectly unworthy provocation on the part of Eric Ciotti.

"

The LR deputy “welcomed this decision” and announced that he will pay back his damages to the support fund for the flooded valleys of the Alpes-Maritimes.

Society

"We must not be fair in the dispute, be rebels with two balls, even if I am one", loose Cédric Herrou

Justice

In Menton, justice asks the prefect to review his copy concerning associations of assistance to migrants

  • Court of Appeal

  • Insult

  • Migrants

  • Nice

  • Eric Ciotti

  • Justice