A French journalist was killed in Ukraine. Photos of his remains are circulating on the net, in particular on Twitter. Sharing that can have legal consequences.
He is a new victim of the war in Ukraine. In a message posted on Twitter on May 30, 2022, Emmanuel Macron confirmed the death of a French journalist who was in the east of the country. The President of the Republic has also revealed his identity: Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff. He was 32 years old. He covered the conflict notably for BFM TV.
” Journalist, Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was in Ukraine to show the reality of the war. Aboard a humanitarian bus, alongside civilians forced to flee to escape Russian bombs, he was fatally shot », wrote the Head of State in the afternoon of May 30. It was during an evacuation of civilians that he lost his life.
According Christopher Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the journalist was on the road between Lissitchansk and Bakhmout, in the Luhansk region, which is the easternmost of the country and which is considered secessionist by kyiv. It is in this area of Donbass, which covers the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, that the bulk of the fighting is concentrated today.
” The Russian army allegedly fired on the evacuation vehicle where the journalist was and the shot pierced the armour. Our colleague was hit in the neck “, reports Christophe Deloire. He was in partnership with another journalist, specifies RSF, and it was while he was following the escape of Ukrainian men and women that a piece of shrapnel hit him. His buddy is out of danger.
Sharing photos showing the remains can lead to criminal consequences
Images circulate on the net where we can see a remains as well as the state of the cabin of the truck in which he was, with a windshield destroyed by a splinter and seats stained with blood. We will not share them. It should also be remembered that sharing these photos, especially on Twitter, may constitute a criminal offence.
Indeed, since this social network is frequented by minors, article 227-24 of the Criminal Code may apply, as it deals with the need to protect children. Here, it is a question of punishing the dissemination of a message that is violent or likely to seriously undermine human dignity. Propagation of a corpse photo may fall within its scope.
The penalties incurred are three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
Another possibility, article 225-17 of the Penal Code. It is about attacks on the respect due to the dead. ” Any attack on the integrity of a corpse, by any means whatsoever, is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros. “. It could also be mobilized in the event of hostile messages or unwelcome photomontages.
Other articles of law could also be invoked. That said, these two articles appear today as the most regularly quoted when images of this nature circulate on social networks. They had been mentioned as early as 2015 when Marine Le Pen and Gilbert Collard had relayed violent photos of Daesh, and in 2020 with the Samuel Paty affair.
According to RSF’s count, the death of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff brings to eight the number of journalists killed in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war. The other seven are Evgeny Sakun, Brent Renaud, Pierre Zakrzewski, Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Oksana Baoulina, Evgeny Sakun and Max Levin. As for the civilian victims, they are estimated at a few tens of thousands.