The facts are comparable to “an industrial accident”, estimates the boss of Point.
The false information on the rebellious deputies Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière disseminated by the magazine was "invented" by still unknown speakers, explained Monday the director of the weekly, Étienne Gernelle.
"There is a double smoke" in this case comparable to "an industrial accident", he said on Europe 1 radio. At the start, there were "people who tried to set up a business which did not did not exist, ”explained the press boss in his first detailed explanation of this error which placed his magazine in turmoil.
Read alsoThe Insoumis Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière, a rebellious couple in the Assembly
“And then there is the internal smoke, with a journalist who (…) lost his mind, did anything and smoked his hierarchy”, he continued, insisting on the fact that the claims in the article "were false".
On June 23, Le Point had to remove from its site an article posted the day before, which unduly accused the couple of LFI deputies of having exploited an undocumented employee.
The laid off journalist
Étienne Gernelle had apologized to the two deputies, who had demanded the dismissal of the author of the article, Aziz Zemouri.
He was laid off and called to an interview prior to a possible dismissal.
“If he had told the truth about the nature of the documents he had and the way he had obtained them, the paper would never have been published”, assured Étienne Gernelle.
Aziz Zemouri relied in particular on SMS which turned out to be false.
According to his boss, the journalist "probably melted a lead out of indignation" thinking that this affair was true.
A counter-investigation of the Point in progress
After being "in denial", the journalist "recognized that the whole thing was smoke-free" and "is very bad", continued the director of Point.
“Who fabricated these texts, who invented this case, shaped this story?
We are investigating it (…) For the moment, we have no certainty, we have very serious leads.
Obviously we will publish all this as soon as it is ready, ”said Étienne Gernelle, according to whom nine journalists from Le Point, including himself, are working on this counter-investigation.
According to him, the false information "had reached Aziz Zemouri before the legislative elections" but their publication in the Point "has been postponed".
"It was a general reflex to say to oneself that
there is no urgency
, and there was none so much as it was false", continued Étienne Gernelle, acknowledging that "there had many questions before publication.
Was the transmission of these forgeries to the Point journalist intended to influence the elections?
“I don't know for the moment”, replied the press boss according to whom “there is a lot of fog in this affair”.
In June 2021, Le Point and Aziz Zemouri had already been sentenced for defamation after an article by the latter, conviction confirmed on appeal.
He described actress Sand Van Roy as a former "call girl", who accuses filmmaker Luc Besson of rape and sexual assault.
