Emmanuel Grégoire, candidate of the united left outside La France insoumise in the Paris municipal elections, announced on Monday that he would file a defamation complaint against Rachida Dati, his right-wing competitor, after her accusations on Cnews and Europe 1.
“Sometimes, you can hold meetings and the team of Mr. (Ian) Brossat, Mr. (David) Belliard, and Mr. (Emmanuel) Grégoire sends people to try to assault you or assault the people you are meeting with,” Rachida Dati said earlier on Cnews. “Mr. (Ian) Brossat, I recently listened to him on a show, who ended up finding that there was no violence. It eventually leads to the death of a young man,” she added, when asked about the case of nationalist militant Quentin Deranque after a violent attack in Lyon.
“To defend the honor of Emmanuel Grégoire and the united left as well as the integrity of democratic debate in Paris, a complaint will be filed today (Monday) for defamation against Mrs. Rachida Dati,” reacted the campaign team of the left-wing candidate in a statement. “These accusations are not only unfounded but deeply defamatory. They harm the honor and integrity of Emmanuel Grégoire and his committed teams, especially those of two of his fellow candidates,” the statement adds.
The communist Ian Brossat also confirmed to AFP that he would file a complaint, as well as the ecologist David Belliard. “Exploiting the death of a young man by telling lies is unworthy. And above all, it is illegal,” the latter said in a message sent to AFP.
