We are astonished at the decision of a French court to fine Sandra Muller for defamation

FRANCE, Paris, September 27 — The Coalition For Women In Journalism is astonished at the decision of a French court to fine Sandra Muller for defamation. The journalist and founder of the #MeToo movement in France, has been ordered by court to pay thousands of euros as damages for ‘defaming’ the man she accused of harassment.

Despite her perpetrator’s admission of the accusation, the court fined Sandra. We find this extremely irresponsible and disappointing, as this will not only embolden harassers but also convince victims never to speak up about their ordeals.

On September 25, a French court fined Muller with €15,000 ($16,500) in damages to Eric Brion — a media consultant and former executive at the public broadcaster France Télévisions and the horse-racing channel Equidia. She was also asked to pay €5,000 ($5,500) of fees for the money he spent on the legal procedure. The journalist has also been ordered to delete the tweets, and share the court’s statement on her account.In its ruling the court stated, “She surpassed the acceptable limits of freedom of expression, as her comments descended into a personal attack.”

Sandra, on the other hand, says that the sentence and verdict against her is very disappointing and that she will continue to fight it everyday. Sandra was honored as one of the “silence breakers” by Time magazine in June 2017.

“This decision does not mean women have to stop talking. Women have to keep expressing themselves, women have to continue denouncing reprehensible behaviors — all of them… Fear must not win,” Sandra said after the verdict was announced.Just days, before the #MeToo hashtag gained momentum in the US — in the wake of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s abuse of women — the French journalist accused Brion of making lecherous comments about her during a party in 2017.

She shared the details of her ordeal on twitter using the hashtag #balancetonporc, which roughly translates into “squeal on your pig.” The producer humiliated Sandra by saying, “You have big breasts. You are my type of woman. I will make you orgasm all night.”

Sandra’s story inspired several Twitter users to share their own experiences of being sexually harassed and assaulted. The conversation on social media soon spiraled into a national discourse on sexual violence in the country and brought the spotlight of the world on France.

In June this year, Brion accepted that he made lewd comments in front of the court; however, he also told the court that he had apologized by sending Sandra a text message the next day. A French daily Le Monde published the producer’s public apology.In his apology, Brion wrote that he had made those remarks to Sandra “very late at night, during a drink-fueled cocktail party evening, but I did it only once.”

He later shared that Sandra did not respond to his apology.In January 2018, months later after Sandra’s tweets, Brion announced that he would sue her for defamation and demanded €50,000 (approx. $55,745) in damages and €10,000 worth of legal fees.

Brion’s lawyer, Marie Burguburu, said that despite regretting the comments he made, he took the decision to file a suit because Sandra had accused him of sexual harassment at work. Therefore, he decided to take the trail in a court rather than arguing on social media.

The journalist and her lawyer said that they would appeal against the decision, which will suspend the court orders including fines temporarily.We urge the French judiciary and relevant authorities to revisit their decision, especially since Brion has admitted to harassing our colleague.

This ruling will move to silence other women.We expect better from France’s judiciary and authorities and hope they will hold the culprit responsible for his behavior and to advocate for women’s rights in the country.

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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ.

Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org