The Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera was indicted in December in the investigation by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) after the defamation complaint by Noël Le Graët, we learned on Thursday March 14 from source close to the case, confirmed by the general prosecutor of the Court of Cassation.
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A judicial investigation has been open to the CJR, the only jurisdiction authorized to judge ministers in the exercise of their functions, since June 21, to examine the complaint of the former boss of French football, who criticizes the minister for comments held in February 2023 on its management of the French Football Federation (FFF).
In a press release, Rémy Heitz, attorney general at the Court of Cassation, who acts as public prosecutor at the CJR, confirmed the indictment of the minister by the investigating committee for “ public defamation of an individual “. Ms. Oudéa-Castera’s lawyer did not wish to comment. That of Mr. Le Graët could not be reached immediately.
Ms. Oudéa-Castera serene
At the opening of the judicial investigation, the Ministry of Sports assured that Ms. Oudéa-Castera was “ serene ” And ” ready to answer “, what she did “ publicly and on various occasions in recent months, to the unfounded accusations of Mr. Le Graët “.
Noël Le Graët resigned in February with a bang from the FFF, which he had led since 2011, after a damning audit report from the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (Igesr) on his management, amid accusations of sexual harassment.
The Igesr inspectors estimated in this report that Mr. Le Graët “ no longer has the necessary legitimacy to administer and represent French football “, taking into account in particular its ” inappropriate behavior (…) towards women “. A few hours after her departure, her lawyer announced a complaint, claiming that Ms. Oudéa-Castera had “ lied » on this report. He also highlighted a difference between the summary of the document, published on February 15, which mentioned “ words » and SMS, « words or writings that are ambiguous for some and of a clearly sexual nature for others ”, and its entirety. This report has not been made public.
The procedure in matters of press law makes it almost automatic, after a defamation complaint, the referral to an investigating judge and the indictment of the author of the remarks, the substantive debate taking place at the hearing . However, the case law is different before the CJR.