The association specializing in the fight against corruption and its head in Moselle, Edith Talarczyk, must answer for defamation against the town of Terville (57). A funny muddle with political overtones.
The case will be pleaded on May 2, 2023 before the court of Thionville. It is an unusual case, like a sprinkler. For once, it is not a crooked elected official prosecuted for violating the rules of public accounting who will be on the bench of the Thionville judicial court, but rather the association Anticor and its head for Moselle, Edith Talarczyk, who is also vice-president of the national association.
Two days before the election
On the side of the civil parties, the mayor, Olivier Postal and the city of Terville (57), unjustly involved in a case of big money. Indeed, according to a post published on June 26, 2020 on the Facebook page of Anticor 57, Terville would have camouflaged a huge debt in the accounts of a Mixed Economy Company (SEM) of development (read the post below). The accusation is all the more serious as we are in the middle of an election campaign. More precisely, two days before the second round of municipal elections, on June 28. And in Terville, the situation is very particular. After three consecutive mandates (18 years) the outgoing mayor, Patrick Luxembourger, was not running for re-election in Terville but in the neighboring town of Thionville! The author of the post, Edith Talarczyk, did she want to soap him up? Why didn’t she contact the public prosecutor? In any case, Patrick Luxembourger, qualified for the second round, lost honorably on June 28 with 31.75% of the votes against the outgoing mayor Pierre Cuny (41.36%).
“A controlled debt”
However, the accusations against the municipality of Terville regarding its debt have cast suspicion on both the old and the new municipal teams. The new mayor, Olivier Postal, immediately reacted in an article published on the city’s website and reprinted by the regional press.
The activity and accounts of the SEM are perfectly transparent,” wrote Olivier Postal. The accounts are closed every year, drawn up by a chartered accountant, and validated by auditors (…) If the SEM’s debt is just over 6 million euros, it is the full owner of a property whose value is much higher than this amount (… ) Thus, to say that Terville’s debt is 10 million euros is quite simply nonsense. At the beginning of the year, it stood at 3.1 million euros and will be 2.3 million euros at the end of 2020. The administrative account of the municipality, a public document, bears witness to this.”
Settlement of accounts in the air
The mayor recalls in passing that Edith Talarczyk was 1st deputy of Patrick Luxembourger from 2001 to 2010 until she attempted a coup against him. In any case, Olivier Postal adds, “We refuse to allow the city of Terville to be the object of untruths for the sole purpose of serving the political ambitions of Mrs. Edith Talarczyk and to cast unfounded doubt on the work of elected officials, civil servants or the control of state services. We have no choice but to take legal action against this defamatory publication.
The complaint has followed its judicial course. The case was heard on May 2, 2023 in Thionville.
Edith Talarczyk: “It’s the silence”
“I only responded to an article published the day before, June 25, 2020, in the local press. The mayor of Terville, Olivier Postal, said that Terville’s debt was 3 M€ and would gradually disappear. However, the municipality’s debt has been reduced to 3 M€ thanks to the sale of land to SEM. In addition, the city is the guarantor of a loan that is added to the debt. I am a Tervilloise, I want to know where my money goes. I ask for the documents at the town hall, but I don’t get any answer. It’s an omerta.”
ANTICOR 57 POST ON FB DATED 26.06.20