A government decree making a village location in central France a national heritage site on archeologists' advice that it was where the 25BC Battle of Gergovia was played out, when an army of Gauls defeated that of Roman emperor Julius Caesar, is being legally challenged by the Patrimoine-Environnement association which insists that the real battlefield was four kilometres away, at a spot soon to be covered in solar panels.
After two years of investigations, French magistrates last week dismissed the case brought by the daughter of Astérix co-creator Albert Uderzo that her father is the mentally-diminished victim of an entourage of crooks – an accusation Uderzo strongly denies. But the family feud is far from over. While Albert Uderzo earlier this month filed a complaint against his daughter Sylvie and her husband for “psychological violence”, she has now lodged a legal appeal against the magistrates’ decision to close the case. Michel Deléan reports on the latest developments in a case that could lend itself to a colourful cartoon plot, and reveals why the magistrates decided to wind up the investigation despite disturbing evidence to back Sylvie Uderzo's claims.
The 85-year-old French artist who co-created the world-famous Astérix comic book series is surrounded by advisers and employees who benefit enormously from his largesse. Crying foul play, Albert Uderzo’s only daughter succeeded in getting an examining magistrate to look into the affair. Mediapart's Michel Deléan reveals the inside story of the ongoing investigation.
