Mediapart is taking legal action against the French state for the attempt to search our offices over the so-called Benalla affair involving President Emmanuel Macron's former security aide Alexandre Benalla, writes Mediapart publishing editor Edwy Plenel. We are asking the courts to rule that by ordering this baseless, unfair and disproportionate action, the Paris prosecutor has made the French state liable for breaching the protection given to journalists to keep their sources secret, and for obstructing Mediapart's journalistic work.
Two months to the day after the attempt to search our offices on February 4th in relation to the Benalla affair, Mediapart this week handed a summons to the state's legal agent informing them of the case that we intend to bring against it before the courts in Paris.
