The Court of Cassation confirmed this Tuesday, October 19, the decision of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal, which acquitted the mayor of Nice (formerly of LR) Christian Estrosi of defamation against local and regional elected official of the National Rally, Philippe Vardon.
In March 2017, while he was president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council, Christian Estrosi fiercely attacked his National Front opponent Philippe Vardon in a plenary session of the regional council, calling him “a successor of Goebbels,” the head of propaganda for the Nazi regime.
He also accused Vardon of making “Nazi salutes”: “You tolerate Philippe Vardon’s Nazi salutes, Marion Maréchal Le Pen!” he criticized.
In the first instance, Estrosi was acquitted of the insult charge for the comparison with Joseph Goebbels but was found guilty of defamation for attributing Nazi salutes to Vardon.
In October 2019, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal acquitted him of these defamation charges. The public prosecutor did not appeal the acquittal for public insult, although the court upheld the civil fault regarding the insult and the Court of Appeal ordered Estrosi to pay 2,000 euros in damages.
