France

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 January 2007 IFJ media release: IFJ Urges French Authorities to Give Accreditation to Journalists for Upcoming Franco-African Summit The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on French authorities and the Organising Committee of the Franco-African Summit to review its unfair accreditation procedures for the meeting, which will […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned a judge’s decision to open a judicial investigation against Roberto Ferrario, the editor of the left-wing website Bellaciao ( http://bellaciao.org ), in response to a libel suit by the Saint Nazaire-based shipyard, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, over a critical press release by the USM-CGT union that was posted on […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the opening of a formal judicial investigation into three journalists with the Montpellier-based daily “Midi Libre” on suspicion of “violating professional confidentiality.” It stems from a complaint by former Languedoc-Roussillon regional council president Jacques Blanc of the ruling UMP party over a leaked official audit. “We very much […]

(RSF/IFEX) – A Paris court’s 14 November 2006 decision to drop charges against journalist Claude Ardid and lawyer Albert Lévy for revealing details of a judicial investigation into alleged corruption in school meal contracts in Toulon in 1998 has been hailed as a milestone by Reporters Without Borders. Lévy had been charged with “violating the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has hailed the signing of an accord on 8 November 2006 in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, between the pro-independence Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers (USTKE) and the management of the French public radio and TV broadcaster RFO. The accord should end eight months of turmoil for RFO’s […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed concern over the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s intention to investigate journalist Denis Robert for “possession of confidential material” in the Clearstream affair. The case has repeatedly made headlines since allegations of money laundering and fraud within the Luxemburg-based Clearstream Banking S.A first surfaced in 2002. The office announced its intention on […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 28 October 2006 RSF press release: Demonstration at Chocolate Exhibition in Paris about journalist missing in Abidjan Around 30 activists from Reporters Without Borders and the “Truth for Guy-André Kieffer” committee staged a protest at Côte d’Ivoire’s stand at the Chocolate Exhibition in Paris on 28 October 2006 to […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF press release: SECOND DAY OF CHIRAC’S VISIT – WITH HEAD OF COMPANY THAT IS SELLING POLICE EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN REPRESSION As French President Jacques Chirac headed today to Wuhan, a major centre for French investment in China, on the second day of his state visit, Reporters Without […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – WiPC is alarmed by the decision of the French parliament on 12 October 2006 to criminalise statements and writings that deny that there had been an Armenian genocide in Turkey at the turn of the last century. Under the proposed law, which now needs to be approved by the Senate and president, fines […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a 13 October 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release: FRENCH SHOULD SCRAP ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAW ARTICLE 19 is calling on the French authorities to scrap proposals to adopt a law prohibiting any denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide. A draft law of this nature was passed by the French National […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF strongly regrets the first reading passage of a law that would make it a crime punishable by prison sentence to deny the 1915 Armenian genocide. The organisation notes that memorial laws are part of the creation of an official historical truth – a practice typical of totalitarian regimes – and expressed the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 3 October 2006 CPJ press release: FRANCE: CPJ deplores death threats against commentator on Islam New York, October 3, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by death threats on Islamist Web sites against a controversial commentator for the French daily Le Figaro over an article […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Death threats issued against French philosophy teacher Robert Redeker since he wrote an op-ed piece entitled, “What the free world should do in the face of Islamist intimidation” for the 19 September 2006 issue of “Le Figaro” have been condemned by RSF. The organisation also denounced a ban on the issue imposed by […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 6 July 2006 media release of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), an IFJ regional group: EFJ Condemns French Double-Dealing on Protection of Sources The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today condemned attacks by the French government on journalists’ right to protect their sources after authorities recently made promises […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 21 June 2006 IFJ media release: European Journalists Welcome French Plan to Strengthen Right to Protect Sources The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today welcomed the proposal by the French Minister of Justice Pascal Clément to strengthen the right of journalists to protect their sources in France by writing […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned a 26 May 2006 Versailles appeal court ruling confirming that Dominique Issartel and Damien Ressiot of the daily “L’Equipe” should be formally placed under investigation for “helping to violate the confidentiality of a judicial investigation” into the use of banned drugs by a cycling team. The ruling is […]