Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, was sentenced by the Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday, June 29, for defamation of “Le Monde” journalist who he claimed in 2018 to have contributed to the arrest of an activist opposing the Chilean dictatorship.
In February 2018, the former presidential candidate posted on Facebook a message accusing Paulo Paranagua, a journalist, of having “swung” against Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973-1990), before being taken into custody and torture.
Paulo Paranagua dumped him. Jean-Luc Melenchon posted then on Facebook Solidarity with Latino dictators victims.
The criminal court did not recognize the defamatory nature, at first instance, of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s comments.
The Court of Appeal, consulted by AFP, indicated this time that “these comments, even in doubtful form with a query mark at the conclusion of the disputed sentence, nonetheless clearly insinuate Paulo Paranagua might contribute to making this activist a victim of dictators.”
Paulo Paranagua’s lawyer Me Vincent Toledano denounced to AFP the reproaches without “any kind or foundation” and “totally imaginary”.
Jean-Luc Melenchon was sentenced to pay a symbolic €5 in damages to the Latin America journalist. He will also be required to reimburse the victim for legal expenses up to 2,000 Euros. Jean-Luc Melenchon was not present before the judge in this matter.
Paulo Paranagua also filed a second complaint against Jean-Luc Melenchon, who he called a “repentant killer” on his blog L’Ere du Peuple. He had already been convicted in the first instance. His lawyers appealed against the judgment.
Paulo Paranagua also attacked Jean-Luc Melenchon because he did not have legal notices posted on the site melenchon.fr at that time. This indicated that he was unable to assign the former deputy for civil defense.
