France: CFWIJ condemns the intimidation tactics employed against Lisa Noyal and her colleague Rémi-Kenzo Pagès
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October 14, 2021, Paris- Journalists Lisa Noyal and Rémi-Kenzo Pagès were restricted from questioning Mayor of Aubervilliers, Karine Francelet regarding a demolition project in her region of jurisdiction. Francelet’s security team threatened legal action and destroyed the journalists’ property for merely attempting to do their job. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. The journalists have also been previously discouraged from pursuing the story and the constant attempts to silence the noise around the issue now appears extremely concerning.
In preparation of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the city administration had decided to demolish 19 allotment gardens in Aubervilliers. However, a later report suggested that the environmental evaluation of such a move is insufficient to justify the property destruction and the project was put on hold for the time being. Several demonstrations were also conducted in the area, protesting the move, claiming that the authorities are not taking into consideration the impact this will have on the biodiversity and natural resources in the area.
The Paris Administrative Court of Appeals suspended the issued building permit and the works on September 20 in light of these arguments. On October 14, when Lisa and Pagès attempted to interview Francelet after a city council meeting, her security guards intervened. In an attempt to curb the story and silence the journalists the security personnel kicked their camera, and warned them that a legal action can be brought forth against them if they continue to persist and release any footage. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred.
“The material is not damaged. But once again the goal was to keep us from filming and intimidating us,” Pagès told a local publication. Pagès was earlier injured in pursuit of the same story when he was covering the protest that took place on September 2. He was physically assaulted and had his camera damaged when he tried to film the security personnel attempting to isolate one particular protestor for further questioning. Pagès filed a legal complaint but has not received a response.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is concerned by these attacks on the press and the attempt to cover up the story. These actions are in blatant violation of the freedom of press promised in the French constitution, and in fact, grant impunity to armed officials to misbehave with journalists merely doing their job. Mayor Francelet should immediately take note of how her employees dealt with the situation and work to rectify it. She should also ensure that journalists should have access to the story in order to ensure public accountability regarding the issue.
