“It’s a hurricane in private life”: Bernard de la Villardière looks back on the period when he benefited from police protection

This is a show that has had terrible repercussions. After the release of a new issue of Restricted zone devoted to radical Islam, the presenter of the program Ophelie Meunier received many threatening messages. A situation that led to his placed under police protection.

Guest on the set of It’s up to you this Thursday, February 3, Bernard de la Villardiere, former historical presenter of Restricted zone, was asked about this. As a preamble, columnist Émilie Tran Nguyen wanted to broadcast an archive of the France 5 talk show in January 2017, in which the journalist confided that he himself had had to benefit from protection. “I was for five months under the protection of the Ministry of the Interior, with two police officers at the foot of my house, because I was on a Daesh list with a few other journalists. I gave it up more than a month ago, so people who are interested, let them know that I no longer have an escort.” he explained at the time.

Bernard de la Villardière’s technique to protect his family

Today free of his movements, Bernard de la Villardière explained that at first he was reluctant to accept police protection, but that he had resolved to do so for a specific reason. “I accepted it not necessarily for me but because I am married and I have a family. Afterwards it is true that you are protected but not your family”, he confided, adding that he had nevertheless found a technique so that his family would not be targeted by possible aggressors: “I remember back then I was already traveling a lot, and I was taking pictures of myself with the ticket in hand, hiding the destination, and saying ‘Hello guys, I’m not there’, because I was always afraid that in my absence, my home would be visited, even if it was under protection. You never know what can happen.”

Regarding Ophélie Meunier, Bernard de la Villardière confirmed that he had exchanged with her on this subject, while specifying that this period could be very difficult to live with. “It is a hurricane in private life. It shakes up a lot of things.”, he assured. Although he is no longer protected, the Exclusive Investigation presenter indicated that he was still the subject of insults and threats: “It happens on social media regularly. Recently, we did a story on Bangladesh where we denounced Islamism and Salafism. And on social networks in France, there are still people who believe that it is Islamophobia, and that it is relentlessness”.

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