ESPIONAGE OF FRANÇOIS RUFFIN: THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN LVMH AND THE PROSECUTOR VALIDATED, THE ELECTED SEIZES THE ECHR
PARIS (Reuters) – The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed on Tuesday the validity of an agreement concluded by LVMH with the courts to avoid prosecution in a spy case which François Ruffin had been the target of when he was was making a film about billionaire Bernard Arnault’s luxury group.
Under the terms of this judicial convention of public interest (CJIP), authorized by law since 2016, the multinational, accused of having had François Ruffin monitored for nearly three years by the former director of the French internal intelligence services, Bernard Squarcini, agreed to pay a fine of 10 million euros to avoid a trial.
The director of the satirical film “Merci Patron”, who has since become a deputy for La France Insoumise (extreme left), had filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal to challenge the validation of this agreement by the Paris court in December 2021. This appeal was dismissed on Tuesday.
While saying that he was not claiming financial compensation, François Ruffin argued that the “guilt” of LVMH in this case should be established by the courts.
“By judging our appeal inadmissible and by refusing to transmit this question to the Constitutional Council, it (the Court of Appeal) is sweeping away our request, which is nevertheless fundamental for the protection of public freedoms”, he said. regretted Tuesday in a press release.
The elected representative of the Somme specifies to seize the European Court of Human Rights “for the failures of the French State in its obligation to protect public freedoms”.
“European justice will decide. And French justice will not grow out of it,” he wrote.
(Report by Mimosa Spencer, written by Tangi Salaün, edited by Sophie Louet)