LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul announced Tuesday that he was going to report to the courts a “lie” by the leaders of the Canal group during the commission of inquiry into TV frequencies, after an incident on CNews where abortion had been described as “leading cause of death in the world”. The channel, owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, apologized after broadcasting this controversial infographic twice in February on the Sunday religious talk show “In Search of the Spirit”.
As part of a hearing on February 29 by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into TNT of which Aurélien Saintoul is the rapporteur, the editorial director of CNews, Serge Nedjar, assured under oath: “We are in the process of investigate to find out if there was an error or a little more. We have several avenues.”
Aurélien Saintoul subsequently requested that “all the elements of the announced investigation be communicated to him”. “In the absence of a satisfactory response”, he carried out “a documentary and on-site inspection within the Canal group”, he explained in his commission of inquiry report. “Today, I do not have the material elements which would allow me to establish that there was indeed an internal investigation,” the Hauts-de-Seine elected official declared to the press on Tuesday. “Lying under oath is an offense,” he underlined, indicating that he would take legal action.
In addition, Aurélien Saintoul reproduces in his report an alert message from an internal lawyer addressed to the managers of the channel and the group before the broadcasts, warning of the “obligation of honest treatment of information” in this sequence on abortion. After the on-air incident, the audiovisual regulator, Arcom, contacted an independent rapporteur with a view to possible sanctioning CNews, the second continuous news channel. Aurélien Saintoul intends to make a second report concerning the Canal group, which “involves a victim”, he said without further details.
Tighten channel controls at all stages, strengthen the audiovisual policeman: the commission of inquiry into the allocation of TNT frequencies delivered its recommendations on Tuesday, in full play with those of C8 and CNews. Aurélien Saintoul personally advocates “the obligation for publishers of channels on DTT to respect the principle of secularism, incompatible with the broadcast of programs of a religious nature”.
