Emmanuelle Ducros 8:54 a.m., February 15, 2024

Every morning after the 8:30 a.m. news, Emmanuelle Ducros reveals to listeners her “Journey into absurdity”, from Monday to Thursday.

A trial took place yesterday in the 17th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court, known as the “press chamber”. A trial for defamation.

A lawsuit brought by lawyer and former environmental minister Corinne Lepage against an engineer, Myrto Tripathy, president of the Voix du Nucléaire association, which promotes carbon-free nuclear energy for the fight against climate change.

What does Corinne Lepage have against this nuclear activist?

A tweet from April 2021. In it, Myrto Tripathy mocked a newly appointed Luxembourg energy minister, a sports teacher who made surreal comments about nuclear energy, the European commission, EDF, mixing it all up in a big conspiracy theory.

In English, Myrto Tripathy joked about pseudo-nuclear specialists talking nonsense. An attitude with serious consequences, according to her. “Millions of people will die because of political choices guided by this hatred of nuclear power maintained for the personal gain of a few.” And she mentioned several names, including that of Corinne Lepage.

Which considers itself defamed.

Yes, although this tweet was only seen by a handful of people. Corinne Lepage believes that her reputation is tarnished, she is demanding 20,000 euros in damages. Myrto Tripathy had to raise money to pay for a lawyer. She demands one euro, considering the procedure abusive.

How does Myrto Tripathy defend herself?

If she admits to having forced the point, she accepts the substance of the message. It is factual that the abandonment of nuclear power causes millions of deaths. Myrto Tripathy has a choice witness: François-Marie Bréon, a climatologist who collaborated in the drafting of the IPCC reports. According to him, numerous scientific sources support these remarks: less nuclear power means more air pollution with fine particles: 250,000 deaths in Europe in 2021. There is a direct relationship between the two.

Myrto Tripathy recalled the positions of Corinne Lepage.

According to her, Corinne Lepage contributed to spreading the fear of nuclear power in an unscientific way. A lawyer, she took her own country to court, on behalf of the Geneva authorities to obtain the closure of Fessenheim. She continued to highlight the supposed dangerousness of the plant. Myrto Tripathy believes that she took advantage of anti-nuclearism for media and political benefit and to attract customers.

The hearing in the case is set for April 4.

It is uncertain, because the prosecutor has not requested anything. Myrto Tripathy believes that this is a gag procedure to silence her, but the trial has a broader scope: it could hinder the freedom of citizens to criticize the action of politicians when it affects their lives. And then, he asks a fundamental question: is it really up to justice to decide in what looks more like a scientific debate than a legal dispute?