PARIS: French media groups on Tuesday called on the far-right National Rally (RN) party headed by Marine Le Pen to allow them to “work freely” after journalists were allegedly subjected to rough treatment at a congress last weekend.
The two-day congress in Orleans was the first big party campaign rally by Le Pen, whom surveys put as the leading candidate to succeed Emmanuel Macron in presidential elections next spring.
“Marine Le Pen used this congress as a launchpad for her presidential campaign. It is unacceptable for journalists to be forcibly removed and mistreated,” the outlets — including BFMTV, LCI, Le Monde, Le Figaro, Radio France, RTL, RMC, France Televisions and Agence France-Presse — wrote in an open letter.
“In a state governed by the rule of law, political parties — of all stripes — must allow the press, which serves all citizens, to access their events without hindering its work or resorting to rough treatment,” the letter said.
The congress was held under heavy police surveillance as it coincided with another day of nationwide protests about the cost of living, which on October 17 had descended into street violence.
Thousands of people yelling anti-fascist slogans had marched in Orleans on Saturday against the congress.
While Le Pen has openly raised concerns for months about possible violence from her opponents, incidents involving both party activists and the party’s own security personnel also occurred.
On Saturday, shortly before the congress opened, a video crew from investigative media outlet Mediapart was confronted by party activists and subsequently jeered by the crowd, who chanted: “Mediapart, get out!“
The team was then forcibly escorted from the venue by the RN’s security staff.
Mediapart has come under fire from members and supporters of the RN following its revelations in late September about the alleged antisemitic writings by party president Jordan Bardella during his youth. Bardella firmly denies being the author.
Then on Sunday, following a protest organized by the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF), plainclothes police officers and security staff roughly removed the activists, as well as a Mediapart journalist who was filming the scene.
The journalist overheard a racist remark from a female member of the audience telling him to “go back to your country.”
A journalist for Politis, a left-wing magazine, filming the same protest was also roughly removed.
The rough treatment did not stop there.
According to several women reporters, security staff conducted unusual pat-downs of some women journalists to check whether they were wearing bras and might be Femen activists prepared to reveal chests painted with slogans.
In early October, journalist associations from nearly 40 news outlets had already denounced “death threats” made by the RN against Mediapart.
That followed remarks by Le Pen in which she suggested that the outlet’s journalists should wear “a Kevlar suit” — a reference to the material used in bulletproof vests.