It is an extremely rare occurrence: a journalist turns against his own source.
Aziz Zemouri, author of an article implicating the couple of LFI deputies Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière, accusing them of employing an Algerian cleaning lady in an irregular situation, filed a complaint on Tuesday June 28 for "breach of trust".
This not only targets the former UDI deputy Jean-Christophe Lagarde, beaten in the legislative elections by Raquel Garrido, but also the source of the pen, the former police officer Anouar Bouhadjela, known as Noam Anouar.
Read alsoFalse accusations against Garrido and Corbière: "Le Point" lays off its journalist
If the journalist had first argued that he was "
convinced of the veracity of the facts
", he then retracted, claiming, according to AFP, to have been "
manipulated
".
“They are trying to make me the ideal culprit”
Faced with these accusations, the former territorial intelligence policeman wanted to defend himself in a 17-minute video broadcast live on Facebook Tuesday, June 28, at 3:41 a.m.
“
They are trying to make me the ideal culprit in the Corbière-Garrido affair
”, he was indignant, before giving his version of the facts, presenting himself essentially as a simple intermediary.
On the couple's side, the lawyer for Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière, Me Xavier Sauvignet, told
Le Figaro
that he had filed two complaints for "public defamation" with civil action against the director of the publication of the newspaper
Le Point,
Étienne Gernelle as well as against the author of the article, Aziz Zemouri.
Two other complaints were also filed against X for “forgery and use of forgery” as well as “identity theft”.
The criminal also indicated that he also wanted to file a complaint against journalist Aziz Zemouri for having published false exchanges on his Twitter account.
“
Regarding the facts of defamation, it is very clear that an investigation will be opened, since it is the usual procedure
”, assured
Figaro
a source close to the file, slipping that there are “
several elements which show that one or more offence(s) could have been committed
”, before hastening to add that “
these are only hypotheses
”.
And these are many.
“
It can range from a journalist who invented a story from scratch to the idea of a plot fomented by Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
It is in this range that the truth lies.
It is up to the Paris public prosecutor to shed light on this
, ”we add.
, the Paris public prosecutor's office did not respond to our requests.
For the moment, no track is therefore to be excluded.
Asked Wednesday morning by journalist Apolline de Malherbe on RMC, Raquel Garrido felt that “
the fact that there is a political motivation behind this journalistic set-up cannot be excluded
”.
Before the legislative elections, according to her, her rival “
Jean-Christophe Lagarde felt that
[she was]
beating him
”
.
“
There was a desire in my constituency to turn the page on him and he knew it.
And it is likely that he organized this machination
, ”she insisted.
Interviewed on BFMTV, her husband Alexis Corbière for his part let it be known that he does not "
would not be limited to a bad action by an isolated journalist who would have 'melted a lead'
".
In a letter addressed to its readers,
Le Point
compared the facts to an “
industrial accident
”, the result of “
double-trigger smoking
”.
“
External smoking, first.
People have probably sought to sell a false story to discredit Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière
, “said the magazine.
Concerning the "
internal smoking
",
Le Point
indicates that the journalist, "
embarked on by a source he considered reliable
", "
did not have (...) either the documents or the elements that he claimed, from his hierarchy, hold
”.
And to clarify:
If he had told the truth about the documents he claimed to have and how he had obtained them, his article would not have been published
”.
The newspaper also assures that it is currently conducting an internal counter-investigation.