Paris (AFP)

The release of Mediapart on Friday, which had been attacked for defamation by François de Rugy for one of the articles on his lifestyle and his expenses which had prompted him to resign, is a "formal" decision, assured the former -minister Saturday.

The decision of the Paris Criminal Court "is a decision on the form and not on the substance. The court considered that the defamation proceedings should have been initiated as a private person and not as a public official", noted the former Minister of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition on Twitter.

"The articles of Mediapart systematically mentioning my status of deputy or minister, according to my lawyers they fell under article 31 paragraph 1 of the law of July 29, 1881", which deals with defamation against a citizen in charge of a public mandate , he adds.

But "the court indicates that the prosecution should have been based on article 32 (private defamation)", he laments.

François de Rugy sued the online newspaper for defamation against a "citizen in charge of a public mandate", but the court in fact considered in its decision that the article in question only targeted him as that particular.

For reasons of limitation, "it is no longer possible for me to initiate a new procedure" on the basis of private defamation, laments the former minister, regretting the final nature of the decision.

Then Minister of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, François de Rugy had resigned in July 2019 after a series of revelations: sumptuous dinners organized while he presided over the National Assembly, expensive work in his official accommodation, disputed use of his expenses of mandate of deputy, social housing rented in Nantes.

It was for the only article on this accommodation that François de Rugy - who had become a deputy again - had attacked Mediapart, whose "methods" and "demolition journalism" he had denounced.

The requalification being excluded in terms of the press, the court acquitted Mediapart, the director of the publication Edwy Plenel and one of the co-authors of the article, Fabrice Arfi, both also targeted.

"The prosecution error is not only the form, it implied an assertion not contained in the article," Fabrice Arfi replied on Twitter on Saturday.

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