(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is astonished that the investigation of photographer Jacques Langevin, from the Corbis Sygma agency, is being reopened in the inquest into Lady Diana’s death. The organisation demands that charges against Langevin be definitively dropped. “Having failed to convict this press professional for manslaughter, the French judicial system is using an implausible pretext […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is astonished that the investigation of photographer Jacques Langevin, from the Corbis Sygma agency, is being reopened in the inquest into Lady Diana’s death. The organisation demands that charges against Langevin be definitively dropped. “Having failed to convict this press professional for manslaughter, the French judicial system is using an implausible pretext in order to continue its legal proceedings,” stated Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general. “Jacques Langevin and the nine other photographers implicated in this incident did nothing other than practice their profession by bearing witness to the traffic accident that caused the deaths of Lady Diana and her companion. RSF believes that, in the case of a public person who is as well known as Princess Diana, the right to information takes precendence over the right to a private life, even in such a tragic situation,” he added.
On 21 May 2001, Langevin, who was working for the Corbis Sygma agency, was investigated for “attacking privacy” in the case of Lady Diana’s death in a traffic accident in Paris, more than three years earlier. The French judicial system is charging him for taking photos of the couple from his car while the emergency team was in action around the damaged vehicle. According to the 9 June issue of the daily “Le Monde”, Judge Muriel Josié will reportedly soon serve notice of the same charges to the nine other photographers who participated in the chase. If they are found guilty, they could be sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 300,000 francs (approx. US$38,577). Accused in 1997 of “manslaughter”, their cases were dismissed due to lack of grounds for prosecution two years later.
