On Wednesday April 27, a draft European directive was presented to the European Commission to fight against abusive prosecutions aimed at silencing journalists and whistleblowers.
They are called “gag procedures” and they can take all forms of intimidation. It may be the multiplication of legal attacks as we saw with the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who had 47 prosecutions at the time of his assassination in 2017.
It may be a complaint for defamation, such as the one that targeted Tristan Waleckx and France 2when they were attacked by Vincent Bolloré for a portrait released in 2016 and awarded the Albert London Prize.
It can be attacks for denigration before a commercial court, as this same Vincent Bolloré had done about this report claiming 50 million euros at France Televisions.
It can be judicial harassment, as experienced by the Cameroonian journalist Nestor Nga Etoga, who for more than five years has appeared a hundred times before a court in Douala or Mfou after prosecution by the forestry company Fipcam, whose violation he denounced. corruption, according to Reporters Without Borders.
It can even be a counter-offensive for ” slanderous denunciation », as comes to do Patrick Poivre d’Arvorthe former presenter of TF1, against sixteen women while six of them filed a complaint against him for rape.
118″ gag procedures » recorded in 2021
Very often, and this is particularly the case with Vincent Bolloré, these systematic attacks do not yield much result, at least before European justice. They result in a release or they are withdrawn. But the powerful plaintiffs reckon that’s enough to intimidate journalists or whistleblowers who might attack their interests.
This is why the European Commission presented on Wednesday 27 April a draft directive for ” nip gag procedures in the bud, by neutralizing their effect », as Commissioner Věra Jourová explains. There is urgency, because out of 539 cases recorded between 2010 and 2021, 118 took place last year, a record year for this type of procedure. The directive focuses on cross-border cases, as information affects several countries and some accusers are tempted to shop around to find the jurisdiction that is most favorable to them. But there is also a recommendation to the states for national affairs.
The idea is to allow early rejection of abusive or unfounded complaints and refusal of judgments rendered outside the European Union. Sanctions and dissuasive measures are also provided for complainants, as well as compensation for the victims of these gag procedures who often pay dearly, both in legal costs and in the long term, for their stubbornness.
► Also to listen: The debate of the day – Journalists and whistleblowers: should we protect them more?