(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 December 2002, RSF expressed its support for two German television journalists who are suing the mayor of Gélaucourt, in Meurthe-et-Moselle (northeastern France), for assault in connection with an incident that took place on 19 June. The case is to be heard on 6 December by the Magistrate’s Court in Nancy. The […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 4 December 2002, RSF expressed its support for two German television journalists who are suing the mayor of Gélaucourt, in Meurthe-et-Moselle (northeastern France), for assault in connection with an incident that took place on 19 June. The case is to be heard on 6 December by the Magistrate’s Court in Nancy.
The organisation believes that the display of violence by Gélaucourt Mayor Michel Capdevielle was unacceptable. RSF feels it is especially deplorable that an elected official would target two journalists who were simply doing their job.
The journalists, Abdul Traoré and cameraman Hartmut Müller, went to Gélaucourt on behalf of the Saarlandischer Rundfunk (Saarland Broadcasting Company) to report on a conflict between the mayor and certain local citizens who accused him of abuse of authority. The mayor seized Müller’s camera, hit him with it in the face, threw it to the ground, and uttered racist insults against Traoré.
In their lawsuit, the journalists accuse the mayor of violence by a public official, damage to the property of another person, and public insult of an individual based on race, religion or origin.
