Following yesterday’s inconclusive verdict in the libel appeal of France 2 and Charles Enderlin against Philippe Karsenty, we have received the following reaction from Karsenty:
Contrary to the recommendation of the advocate general, advising the court to reject the appeal filed by Charles Enderlin and France 2, the Court of Cassation [France’s highest court] nullified the acquittal pronounced by the Appellate Court of Paris on May 21, 2008.
The nullification, which is disciplinary and based on a legal technicality, does not prejudge the outcome: the Court of Cassation deems that the Appellate Court of Paris could not order France 2 to show the raw footage containing images that were not broadcast by France 2. However, the legal criteria of my good faith – quality of the investigation, absence of personal animosity, legitimacy of aim and purpose, prudent and measured expression – were not challenged.
Charles Enderlin, France 2, and I will find ourselves in court again at an undetermined date to plead our cases in the al-Dura affair. The case will be heard again in the Appellate Court of Paris, by a different panel of judges convened to reexamine the facts.
I serenely anticipate the hearing that will allow me to present once more to the court and concerned media the demonstration that France 2 broadcast a staged scene as news on September 30, 2000.
In more than eleven years of controversy, we have brought dozens of pieces of evidence and scientific expertise showing that the scene was staged, whereas France 2, Charles Enderlin, and their cameraman have never been able to prove the veracity of their reportage. Further, it has been revealed through a succession of court cases that France 2, Charles Enderlin, his cameraman, and the father of young Mohammed have lied on several occasions to cover their media fraud.
I have presented the al-Dura affair in many journalism schools and festivals, in prestigious European and American universities, before the Senate and the House of Lords; no one has ever succeeded in refuting the evidence of a staged scene.
I call upon open-minded people to pursue the search for the truth. This is a combat for the honor of the journalistic profession, for justice, for democracy and against disinformation; a combat against the murderous anti-Semitism conveyed by this reportage. I ask those who in good faith believed the narration imposed by this reportage to simply examine the facts without prejudgment.
It is the uncompromising establishment of the truth that will contribute to the sorely needed peace, tolerance, and friendship among people and nations.
Philippe Karsenty, February 29, 2012.
See Nidra Poller’s coverage of the original trial and acquittal here and here.
(With thanks to Nidra Poller for translating from the original French.)
