(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the first president of the Court of Appeal, Guy Canivet, RSF expressed concern over the 19 June 2001 decision by the Criminal Chamber of Court of Appeal to reject the appeal of journalists Jean-Marie Pontaut and Jérôme Dupuis. The two journalists are authors of the book “The Ears of […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the first president of the Court of Appeal, Guy Canivet, RSF expressed concern over the 19 June 2001 decision by the Criminal Chamber of Court of Appeal to reject the appeal of journalists Jean-Marie Pontaut and Jérôme Dupuis. The two journalists are authors of the book “The Ears of the President”, which deals with phone-tapping by the French president’s office and its consequences for freedom of information in France.
“‘Retention of investigative secrets,’ or ‘professional secrets’ in other cases, is now a ‘press offence’, for which the French justice system is the undisputed European champion, in complete contradiction with the jurisprudence of the European Human Rights Court on the subject,” stated Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general. “A journalist does not ‘retain’ secrets, but freely researches and distributes his information, which is the very basis of his profession. By validating the existence for journalists of an offence for ‘retention of investigative secrets’ or ‘professional secrets,’ France’s highest jurisdiction is encouraging the French courts’ ever more systematic questioning of the right to inform,” added Ménard.
RSF notes that the profession and the duty of the journalist is to inform, not to be forced to behave as an auxiliary of the justice system or the police, and that the principle of the protection of sources is the only guarantee of independent investigative journalism.
RSF also notes that on 3 October 2000, the European Human Rights Court condemned France for violating the right to freedom of expression of two journalists who had published, in the magazine “L’Evénement du jeudi” in 1993, information about a complaint about abuse of public property lodged by the management of the National Society for the Construction of Housing for Workers (Société nationale de construction de logements pour les travailleurs, Sonacotra) against a former executive of the firm. In March 1993, the Paris Correctional Court convicted Albert du Roy, publication director of “L’Evénement du jeudi”, and journalist Guillaume Malaurie for “publication of information relating to an independent action for damages,” an offence recognised in the law of 2 July 1931. The Paris Appeals Court confirmed this ruling in 1994, judging that the prohibition on publishing information of this nature aimed to guarantee the presumption of innocence. For its part, the European Court judged that the sentence “did not represent a reasonably proportionate means to pursue legitimate aims, given the interest of a democratic society in ensuring and maintaining press freedom.”
For further information, contact Jean-Christophe Menet at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: europe@rsf.fr, Internet: http://www.rsf.fr
