FRANCE: "Nantes Révoltée" under threat of dissolution
Press release by Ligue des droits de l'Homme (LDH) – Unofficial translation from French
On Tuesday 25 January 2022, the Minister of the Interior announced before the national representation that he was initiating a process of administrative dissolution of the independent media "Nantes Révoltée". This new move by the government is a worrying step towards the extension of a political tool of collective sanction that attacks fundamental freedoms.
The Ligue des droits de l'Homme (LDH) has repeatedly warned of these abuses. It recalls that freedom of the press and, more broadly, freedom of expression, opinion and free criticism are fundamental pillars without which democratic debate would be deeply hampered. It also recalls that the government derives its legitimacy precisely from this democratic process. While there are legal limits to freedom to inform, the primary intervention of the judge, the sole constitutional guarantor of individual freedoms and independence, must remain the preferred way.
The increasing use of administrative dissolution is part of the executive power's deliberate will to intimidate and, in some cases, to silence political dissenting voices, thus limiting freedom of association and freedom to inform. LDH will act, alongside all defenders of rule of law and democracy, to oppose this project aimed at destabilising checks-and-balances for the benefit of the executive power alone.
LDH demands the immediate interruption of the administrative dissolution process of the media "Nantes Révoltée".
Paris, 28 January 2022
Download the press release here.
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