Geoffrey Livolsi, co -founder of the online media “Disclose”, and journalists Benoît Collombat and Jacques Monin, of the Radio France investigation cell, are suspected of having infringed the secret of national defense, by publishing the name of an old soldier.
by Brice Laemle
Is it still possible to searched serenely into the French army? This is the question posed by three journalists, after their summons on Wednesday, December 14, in the premises of the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI), suspected of having informed the secret of national defense.
Geoffrey Livolsi, co -founder of the disclose online media, and journalists Benoît Collombat and Jacques Monin, of the Radio France investigation cell, are suspected of “having committed or tried to commit the offense of revelation or disclosure of Information allowing the identification of a member of a unit of special forces “of the French army.
based on the opening, in 2017, of a national financial prosecutor’s office for favoritism and influence traffic, they had revealed that several high officers had favored private companies in the allocation of transport contracts military. In free hearing, journalists, accompanied by their lawyers, were heard separately by judicial police officers on Wednesday, at the end of the morning.
“investigate drifts”
This summons to the DGSI is the consequence of a complaint filed, in 2018, with the constitution of civil party in 2019, by a former soldier in charge of logistics for special operations, whose name is mentioned in the article Posted online. The ex-climbing high mentioned also took care of the management of public procurement. “The identity of the military belonging to certain units is protected by law, [their] revelation constitutes a criminal offense,” said the Ministry of the Armed Forces. In view of the law, the three journalists are liable to a sentence of five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
“These repeated summons of the DGSI are extremely worrying and can undermine press freedom,” worries Katia Roux, Amnesty International France, which sounds the alarm alongside the League of Rights of man and sherpa.
For Geoffrey Livolsi, already summoned to the premises of Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine), in 2019, for violation of national defense secrecy, after revelations concerning the use of French weapons in Yemen, It is “an attempt to circumvent press law” and a new attempt to intimidate journalists investigating the army. “These summons should not be used to prevent being able to investigate drifts within the Ministry of the Armed Forces,” he explains. After this hearing, it is now up to the investigating judge to decide, or not, any prosecution.