The angry reaction in many disadvantaged districts of France after the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel has once again put police violence back on the political agenda. Lacking any viable response to the unrest, however, the government is simply switching between showing compassion for the teenager and his family, and displaying toughness in the face of disorder. Ilyes Ramdani examines the French government's reaction to the shooting and its aftermath.
Last week the French government dissolved the environmental protest group Les Soulèvements de la Terre (SLT), which had been prominent in demonstrations against the construction of large irrigation reservoirs in the west of the country. The main farming union, the FNSEA, had been one of the loudest voices calling for this environmental group to be shut down. Now the same powerful farmers' lobby group is pointing the finger at a rival farming union, the Confédération Paysanne, which it says has taken part in SLT protests. Karl Laske looks at the role of the FNSEA and its own history of disruptive actions.
Having imposed his pension reform against the French people's wishes, France's president is now in the throes of an authoritarian dash to pursue policies that favour owners of capital. As a result, argues Romaric Godin in this op-ed article, from now on what the president wants is what the country gets – whether it likes it or not.
French detectives investigating three murders have been eavesdropping on jailed fraudster Arnaud Mimran, one of the brains behind the so-called 'crime of the century' carbon trading scam. As Mediapart has already reported, the listening devices revealed Mimran's prison cell musings about his ties to Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. But they have also revealed the crime boss's plans for revenge, including staging an ambush. One of his targets is Mediapart journalist Fabrice Arfi, the author of a book and numerous articles on the carbon trading affair. Mediapart has now referred the matter to the public prosecutor. Karl Laske reports.
French luxury cruise ship firm Compagnie du Ponant, owned by billionaire François Pinault, operates five-star voyages to Antarctica, notably on its state-of-the-art, ice-breaking liner, Le Commandant Charcot. The cruises are advertised as environmentally responsible, with onboard conferences by naturalists to educate the passengers on the habitat of the Earth’s last virgin continent. In fact, the boats, registered in a French tax-friendly overseas territory, are highly polluting, and the increasingly popular tourist traffic to the Antarctic region is contributing to the alarming rate of melting of its ice sheet. Mickaël Correia reports.
The French government is preparing draft legislation to give the medical profession greater legal powers to help with a patient’s will to die, with the possible introduction of assisted suicide which, like euthanasia, is currently prohibited in France. But the reform faces many obstacles, notably opposition from some sectors of the medical profession and religious leaders. The issue is of prime concern for an association campaigning for the rights of the elderly, the CNaV, whose mostly women members include current and former healthcare professionals. In this report by Sarah Boucault, they voice their different views, including how obtaining the right to die echoes their previous combat for access to abortion.
On June 13th and 14th former president Nicolas Sarkozy was questioned by judges as part of an ongoing investigation into the fake retraction by Ziad Takieddine, a key witness in a parallel probe into Libya's alleged funding of the ex-head of state's 2007 election campaign. Under questioning the former president acknowledged that a key figure in the fake retraction case, Noël Dubus, had visited him to receive signed copies of his book. In one copy of his book Nicolas Sarkozy wrote 'Thanks for everything'. Yet businesswoman and paparazzi agency boss Michèle Marchand, who has been placed under formal investigation in the case, had previously denied that this episode even took place. Fabrice Arfi, Karl Laske and Antton Rouget report.
In the tiny medieval village of Montjoi, in south-west France, a dispute over the use of a rural public right of way, pitching a pig farmer against a British house owner and the local mayor, had been simmering for years. But since a far-right YouTuber took up the cause of the pig farmer, the quarrel has taken on a political and sinister dimension, and the mayor, who became the target of a vicious campaign of intimidation, including murder threats, is now placed under police protection. Christophe Gueugneau reports from Montjoi.
France-based journalist Mortaza Behboudi, who has worked for Mediapart and major French broadcasters, notably on reporting missions to Afghanistan, has been detained in Kabul by the Taliban authorities since January 7th this year. The reporter, who holds dual French and Afghan nationality, turned 29 in April, in his prison cell. We call on the Taliban authorities for his release and freedom, and we will continue to do so until he is safely back among us.
This week the publication of a Parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference in France will reveal the close ties between Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin. The party, formerly known as the Front National, was itself responsible for this investigation and chaired the inquiry; on the surface this looks like an attempt at transparency. In reality, it was simply a ploy to try to clear its name, though the party is still furious over the contents of the final report, parts of which have been leaked. Mediapart spent many hours following the hearings conducted by the committee. Here Matthieu Suc and Marine Turchi report on a process that became a charade.
