(RSF/IFEX) – On 28 May 2002, RSF protested the very heavy fine imposed on Philippe Brunet-Leconte, publication director of French monthly magazine “Objectifs Rhône-Alpes”, and assistant editor-in-chief Loïc Tanant. They were ordered to immediately pay a total of 182,000 euros (approx. US$169,500) in libel damages by a court in the southern French city of St.Etienne. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 28 May 2002, RSF protested the very heavy fine imposed on Philippe Brunet-Leconte, publication director of French monthly magazine “Objectifs Rhône-Alpes”, and assistant editor-in-chief Loïc Tanant. They were ordered to immediately pay a total of 182,000 euros (approx. US$169,500) in libel damages by a court in the southern French city of St.Etienne.
“Without judging the rights or wrongs of the case, we deplore such a huge fine, which may force this regional publication to close,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to French Justice Minister Dominique Perben. “We are worried about the increasing number of court cases in France that are ending in sentences against the media and we ask you to give this problem your full attention,” he added.
