Municipal official sues newspaper over article

Foulques Lattaignant de Ledinghen, deputy director of municipal services in the Tarn municipality, has filed a lawsuit against the newspaper Mediacités, demanding that it remove information about him from an article published on July 13. The article investigated hiring practices at the Castres city hall, led by mayor Florian Azéma of the National Rally (RN) party.

Article highlights controversial hires

The article, titled "At Castres, the new RN city hall hires on the benches of the most rigorous churches," focused on two new hires at the Tarn sub-prefecture. One, Xavier Fruleux, previously worked with Jacques Bompard, a far-right official convicted of illegal interest-taking, and was linked to a structure funded by billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin. Fruleux also had ties to an abbey affiliated with the Fraternity of Saint-Pie X, a traditionalist Catholic organization.

Lattaignant de Ledinghen's legal claim

Lattaignant de Ledinghen does not dispute the factual accuracy of the article but argues that it "publicly exposed information relating to [his] private life," causing "manifestly unlawful disturbance." He is seeking the removal of information about him from the article and a total of 2,000 euros in compensation for moral damage and legal costs.

Legal action extends to other entities

In addition to Mediacités, Lattaignant de Ledinghen has also sued Mediapart and the National Observatory of the Far Right for republishing or echoing the article. The legal hearing involving these three entities is scheduled for Friday, November 6.

Mediacités faces frequent legal challenges

Since its founding in 2016, Mediacités has been involved in over twenty legal cases, mostly for "defamation." All but one of these cases have been ruled in the newspaper's favor, with many described as "gag trials" aimed at intimidating the publication rather than securing compensation.

National Rally linked to press attacks

This is the first time a person associated with the National Rally has sued Mediacités in this manner. The legal action by Lattaignant de Ledinghen adds to a pattern of incidents involving the party attacking the press. Recently, journalists from Mediapart and Politis were harassed by the National Rally's security at a congress in Orléans.

Freedom of the press under threat

The repeated attacks on the press by the National Rally have raised concerns about the future of press freedom in France. Media outlets and citizens who value the freedom of the press are urged to resist these actions, as press freedom is a cornerstone of democracy.