Fires are ravaging the Amazon, and they seem to be particularly numerous on a well-defined piece of the planet's green lung.
Three associations point to a hydroelectric power station controlled by EDF, located in this burning area near Sinop, a town of 150,000 inhabitants.
They filed a complaint, accusing the French group of negligence.
The Brazilian judge in charge of this case has decided to demand an explanation directly from Emmanuel Macron.
He asked that the rogatory commission be sent to the Elysée through diplomatic channels.
Read alsoHuge fires in the Amazon: what consequences for the planet?
In his decision taken on Wednesday, the magistrate Mirko Vincenzo Giannotte asks the French head of state to “decide on the role of Sinop Energia”, of which EDF owns 51% of the shares, “in the impacts on the environment in Brazil”.
Sinop Energia, for its part, claims to have “rigorously complied with Brazilian legislation and fulfilled all the requirements for obtaining its environmental license”.
A magistrate close to Jair Bolsonaro
This judgment contains many ironic remarks addressed to the French president, “environmental defender who constantly gives his opinion on the environmental policy of the Brazilian government”.
According to the Brazilian press, this magistrate was expected to be appointed to the Supreme Court by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
He and Emmanuel Macron have had many battles over forest fires in the Amazon, the Brazilian president accusing his French counterpart of threatening Brazil's "sovereignty" by criticizing its environmental policy.
Because France is firmly opposed to the ratification of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, doubting in particular the commitment of Brazil to defend the environment, in the face of the alarming progress of deforestation and fires. in the Amazon.
