Breton political prisoner, Denez Riou, won a defamation case against a Breton based French radio station last week while still in prison.
Riou has served several prison sentences since the 1970's for his involvement in the Breton political movement. Riou is a ex member of the Breton Revolutionary Army (ARB) and a former editor of Combat Breton, the monthly newspaper of Emgann.
The defamation related to an announcement by a journalist working for the Lorient based radio station Soleil FM who claimed that Riou was guilty while a court judgement against him was still being considered. The case against Soleil FM is one of several acts of defamation that the French media has been responsible for, in relation to people from the Breton political and cultural movement over the years.
However Riou in particular is regularly the victim of defamation. In 1999 the French interior Minister, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, said on a French television channel that Riou was the "leader of the ARB", an accusation that was subsequently used against him in a trial. Then in 2002, Riou won a case against Le Télégramme newspaper for a breech of 'presumption of innocence' following an article published in 2001. Riou's family has also successfully sued the same newspaper for a breech of privacy.
This is not the first time that the French state (and its media channels) has attempted to act as judge and jury regarding members of the Breton political movement. For the trial of Breton political prisoners in March 2004, a special juryless court of assize was set up in Paris in a move that the League described at the time as illegitimate and unfair. The prisoners on trial had all been held without charge in prisons in an around Paris for a varying number of years and the 2004 trial was the first time they had been held to account for their alleged crime. During the trial, which lasted for almost a month, the French press frequently insinuated that the prisoners were members of the ARB, despite the continued insistence by the majority of those held that they were not and never had been. After the Paris trial several prisoners were immediately released and many others followed soon after.
The address of Denez Riou can be found below for those activists who would like to show him their support:
DENEZ RIOU Prisonnier Politique Breton 20838 0D10 Centre pénitentiaire Rte de Kerbrient BP 72 56275 PLOEMEUR CEDEX
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
30/04/07
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