France

The Appeal Court ruled yesterday that judge Philippe Courroye, who initiated a procedure to identify information leaks in the “Woerth-Bettencourt” case in September 2010, had infringed the law on protection of sources by trying to access detailed phone records of three journalists working at the daily newspaper “Le Monde”.

The offices of “Charlie Hebdo” were almost completely destroyed by a criminal fire caused by a molotov cocktail; the attack happened on the day the magazine published a special edition called “Sharia Weekly” to “celebrate the victory” of the Islamist party Ennahda in Tunisia.

A broadcast on the question “Is a Palestinian state possible?” drew a hostile reaction from some viewers, including verbal attacks on the programme’s presenters.

RSF activists demonstrated outside the Hotel Ritz in Paris, where Kagame was scheduled to have breakfast with a delegation of French businessmen, in protest against his visit to France.

“The Telecoms Package has been adopted at the national level without any parliamentary debate although it changes the concept and vision of the Internet in France,” RSF said.

Fabrice Arfi is involved in a sensitive investigation into armed attacks in Karachi.

Lola Karimova had sought moral damages against online news agency Rue89 for a May 2010 article that called her the daughter of “dictator Karimov,” and alleged she was “whitewashing Uzbekistan’s image” through charity events.

Jacques-Marie Bourget was seriously injured while covering the Second Intifada in October 2000, sustaining a gunshot wound that was operated on locally after the Israeli military refused to transfer him.

Lola Karimova was described in a Rue89 article as a “dictator’s daughter” who uses charity events to “whitewash her country’s image.”

The court ruled that a prosecutor acted illegally when he allowed the police to examine the phone records of two reporters who were covering a high-profile case involving a L’Oréal heiress.

The trial of two professors highlights the challenges posed by France’s criminal defamation law to academic freedom and freedom of expression in general.

Assad has often spoken of political openings since taking office in 2000, but reforms are at a standstill, RSF said.

Several RSF representatives were arrested near the Arc de Triomphe after opening umbrellas bearing the words “Free Liu Xiaobo” as the Chinese president passed by in a motorcade.

“The law on protection of sources has been grossly violated in France, apparently on the orders of the highest leaders of this country,” said IFJ.

The government allegedly used a domestic intelligence agency to identify an official who leaked information about an investigation into a case involving the labour minister and L’Oréal heiress.

President Sarkozy announced his nomination of the new France Télévisions head.