An extraordinary Municipal Council meeting will take place this afternoon from 2:30 PM at the Nice town hall. There is only one item on the agenda: The deliberation which will authorize the Mayor to take any legal action necessary to defend the interests of the City. The first accused: The Socialist Party, which has circulated and is circulating a leaflet to denounce the state of the City and Metropolitan finances.
This prompted a reaction from Christian Estrosi, who feels directly targeted: “I know that some are already campaigning on the inevitable increase in local taxes from next year. They are relying on falsehoods.”
A strong reaction is expected from the opposition, who call this an attempt at censorship without legal basis.
We will limit ourselves to two simple commentary notes:
– Freedom of opinion is the freedom to receive or communicate information or ideas without public authority interference and regardless of borders (European Convention on Human Rights, Article 10, ratified in 1953).
– It is thus important to allow opinions to flow, to come into contact with each other, as it is the only way to ensure that an opinion is true. It is even more important to allow opinions to flow since the truth unfortunately does not always prevail. Furthermore, it is in constant confrontation that an opinion retains its full meaning. Thus, it is necessary to let people be free to form their opinions (John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859).
