Two journalists from West France a you Western MailMaël Fabre and Cyprien Mercier, were summoned by the IGPN (General Inspectorate of the National Police), the police force in Angers this Tuesday, April 4, 2023. They were heard as witnesses in the context of a preliminary investigation opened by the prosecutor for violation of the secrecy of the investigation and concealment of the secrecy of the investigation.
“Finding the Mole”
They denounce an attempt at intimidation to “find the mole“, confides Maël Fabre, journalist at West France. “The mole that gave us the info.“The preliminary investigation by the public prosecutor of Angers relates to articles published by the two journalists of the same group on a seizure of the narcotics squad last fall : 1.5 million euros discovered in an apartment in Angers and which led to an indictment.
“Undermining freedom of information”
“We did our jobassures Maël Fabre. We contacted the prosecutor who declined to respond. We had the info and the prosecutor doesn’t like it.“During their summons, the two journalists refused to answer the questions of the IGPN investigators, as they are entitled to do. Indeed, the law on freedom of the press of 1881 allows journalists not to reveal the origin of their sources. “Secrecy of sources is even one of the pillars of democracyinsists Maël Fabre. To attack it is to undermine freedom of information.”
The National Union of Journalists supports Maël Fabre and Cyprien Mercier and denounces “an annoying habit.” Already at the beginning of March, a journalist from The New Republic in Tours was summoned to Rennes by the IGPN for concealment of violation of professional secrecy after an article on the death of a man in Cher after a chase after the police.
