The Paris prosecutor's office announced Tuesday the opening of an investigation after the complaint of two associations on the use, by the party of Eric Zemmour, of a database showing - without their consent - the religious denominations of the people listed there.
Friday, at forty-eight of the first round, several thousand people received an SMS signed by the candidate which referred to a page of the Reconquest site!
displaying a text explicitly addressed to French people of the Jewish faith.
However, the Penal Code punishes the creation of a file revealing religious beliefs or racial or ethnic origins without the consent of the persons.
His campaign barely over, Eric Zemmour will have to explain himself to the investigators.
In question, text messages sent on the eve of the first round of the presidential election by the candidate's party which targeted French voters of the Jewish faith.
A few days after the complaint by two associations, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation on Tuesday for offenses relating to personal data.
20 Minutes
takes stock of the possible legal consequences.
What do these text messages contain?
On Friday, two days before the first round of the presidential election, voters received an SMS signed by the name of Eric Zemmour, referring to a text published by the candidate's party, Reconquête!, entitled "Message from Eric Zemmour to French of the Jewish faith”.
According to the candidate's entourage, who confirmed with BFMTV to be the source of these messages, "ten thousand SMS" were sent.
Remained online for two days, between April 8 and 10, the page has since been deleted, but its archived version is still available for consultation at this address.
Why did the Paris prosecutor's office open an investigation?
After the complaint of the Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF) and the association J'accuse - AIPJ, an anti-racist movement and the fight against anti-Semitism, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation, Tuesday, of heads of "possession, storage, recording, transmission of personal data outside the cases provided for by law, communication to a third party without authorization and misuse of the purposes of a personal data file", he said. confirmed at
20 Minutes
.
In addition, justice suspects the party of having used a database showing, without their consent, the religious denominations of people targeted by a political canvassing campaign.
The two associations filed a complaint for "crime of creating an illicit file", said Me Sacha Ghozlan, the lawyer for the association J'accuse, questioned by
20 Minutes,
citing in particular articles 226-16 and 226-19 of the Penal Code.
Since then, three other associations – the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra), SOS Racisme and the Mrap (Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples) – have also filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Paris, Tuesday.
What the law says ?
In France, it is forbidden "to identify people according to their religion, without respecting a certain number of formalities and without their agreement", indicates to
20 Minutes
Me Stéphane Lilti, lawyer of the UEJF, considering that it is deals with “sensitive and dangerous data which calls into question individual freedom”.
In the event of an offence, individuals risk up to five years in prison and 300,000 euros, according to the Penal Code.
"It can be Eric Zemmour, his collaborators or the service provider", specifies the lawyer.
As for the Reconquête party, which is an association, "it risks a fine of up to 1.5 million euros and a ban on carrying out its activity in connection with the offense - therefore political activity in this case" .
Another investigation, administrative this time, was opened by the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (Cnil), after "complaints from people receiving this message", says Me Sacha Ghozlan, adding that the party risks "fines of up to several million euros".
Contacted by
20 Minutes
, the Cnil replied "not being able to communicate on the files under investigation".
What are the investigations going to be about?
It is now up to the brigade for the repression of personal crime (BRDP), to which the Paris prosecutor's office has entrusted the investigation, to determine the responsibilities of each.
“Investigators will find out if the responsibility rests on the legal or physical person of Eric Zemmour, on his collaborators or on potential intermediaries”, analyzes Me Sacha Ghozlan.
How does Eric Zemmour justify himself?
According to the candidate's entourage, this political canvassing was set up with the help of a personal data broker, who buys databases to trade in them, indicated one of the leaders of the Reconquête campaign!
to our colleagues from BFMTV.
“The defense of Eric Zemmour's team is to say that they bought a file of people interested in anti-Semitism from a personal data dealer.
But even admitting that this is true, it is already illegal, these data could not be disclosed for political purposes, ”deciphers the UEJF lawyer.
For Mr. Sacha Ghozlan, the intentions of Eric Zemmour leave little doubt: “This message specifically targeted people of the Jewish faith, he invited them to click on a link which indicated “Message from Eric Zemmour to French people of the Jewish faith”.
There we have a clear and asserted desire to address the Jewish community specifically,” considers the lawyer.
If the offense is constituted, it would be, according to Mr. Lilti, "the largest file of names of Jews since the roundup of Vel d'Hiv, or about 10,000 people".
For his part, Sacha Ghozlan affirms that “this is the first time that we have seen such a file in the context of a presidential campaign.
It is unprecedented, by its scale and by its gravity.
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