The story is beautiful but somewhat lacking: between a person with good intentions who is starting to see themselves as a Saint Sebastian (someone should tell them that good deeds don’t necessarily need TV cameras) and an important politician who feels compelled to voice his opinion even if a single fly is buzzing, there is a risk of it never ending.
Yet, it is Lent, a time for conversion (fasting, abstinence, and penance) which can also apply to speech.
It is urgent to return to good behavior… and to silence!
Pierre-Alain Mannoni, a researcher from Nice, was acquitted on January 6th of aiding in the residence and transportation of foreigners in an irregular situation. He is now filing a defamation lawsuit against Christian Estrosi for remarks made on Facebook.
This teacher-researcher is seeking €5,000 in damages from the president of the Paca region and the deputy mayor of Nice. His complaint targets comments made by the Republican elected official on his Facebook page on the same day as the acquittal, January 6th.
Christian Estrosi argued in his Facebook post that Mr. Mannoni “defies the Republic,” that he encourages “the work of smugglers,” and that he “potentially endangered the security of the French.”
“Mr. Estrosi accuses me of having brought foreigners into French territory, even though that was never reproached to me, he says that I am guilty and outside the law even though I have been acquitted,” Mr. Mannoni also explains. “Today, justice is under violent attack from politicians, Mr. Estrosi sets himself up as a judge, but justice is independent and is the pillar of our democracy,” Mr. Mannoni also notes.
Arrested on October 18th at a highway toll near Menton with three Eritrean women in his vehicle, whom he was driving from the Roya valley to his home in Nice, Mr. Mannoni benefited from the immunity applied in cases where assistance to foreigners is rendered to preserve their dignity before the Nice criminal court.
The prosecution, which had requested a six-month suspended sentence, has appealed this decision. Mr. Mannoni will be tried on June 26th before the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal.
Contacted by AFP, Mr. Estrosi reaffirmed that “when our laws are transgressed by being a smuggler, one must be sanctioned,” considering it “astonishing that in addition to not respecting the law, Mr. Mannoni seeks, by filing complaints, to garner notoriety and imply that his illegal activism is a heroic act.”
The date for the hearing has not yet been set.
