After three years of proceedings, several referrals and more than four hours of hearing, Ramdam 64-40 was able to respond to the defamation facts denounced by Pierre Mallet. The mayor of Benquet filed a complaint following the publication of five articles published between February and April 2021 on the satirical blog of this “citizen association”. Jean-Yves Viollier, former journalist of “Canard chainé”, then publication director, and Dominique Lapierre, loyal activist of Anticor, who admits to being at the origin of the articles, denounce illegal taking of interests of the mayor, personal enrichment following a capital gain and favoritism for the hiring of his daughter.
“We believe we have carried out the investigation,” indicates Jean-Yves Viollier. No one in the association knew or was from Benquet. This is not a cabal against this mayor. We were visionary but not defamatory. Everything we wrote is entirely true. » And the publication director explains how the association works, by writing collaborative articles, without giving the floor to the main interested party: “No need to contact him, we had no doubts so we wrote and we waited his reaction. »
“Whistleblowers”
Pierre Mallet certifies: “My daughter was hired because she had the skills, not because her name is Mallet. I regret that these people, who present themselves as whistleblowers, write dozens of articles against my family, drag my daughter through the mud. For thirty years, I have served my fellow citizens, I have left my life there. What do they do for others, apart from dirtying us? »
And the mayor recalled the pre-electoral context at the time of publication. The president of the Agglomeration, Charles Dayot, “tried to remove me, due to a revolt of the mayors against him. Everything is linked,” believes the Benquetois. For the loss of the vice-presidency and the moral damage, his council claims respectively “48,000 euros and 15,000 euros. »
Refuting “the political cabal and the conspiracy theory”, the defense lawyer pleads for acquittal and denounces an attempt to gag the association, “while Mr. Mallet was found guilty and sentenced in June, precisely for illegal taking interests on the facts cited in the articles. In this case, Pierre Mallet appealed the decision. He is therefore still presumed innocent. As for defamation, decision expected on January 14.
