The pro-migrant activist, Cédric Herrou, must appear before the Nice criminal court to be tried. He is accused of defamation and public insult by the mayor of Breil-sur-Roya (Alpes-Maritimes).
This Thursday, January 9, the pro-migrant activist, Cédric Herrou, is summoned to the Nice court as part of his trial for “defamation and public insult” against the LR mayor of his village of Breil-sur-Roya (Alpes-Maritimes), Sébastien Olharan.
The facts occurred a year ago, in February 2024. At the time, Cédric Herrou wrote on the social network that he encouraged a neighbor to block access to our farm, took us to court over a 20 square meter shed, and diverted land for agricultural use with Safer.
Then, on February 8, this activist farmer republished a second message, quoting the mayor of Breil-sur-Roya. “He is the Mayor of my village, baby Ciotti, weaned too late, a parasite full of pride and public money, is waging war on an association which shelters the homeless, which produces more than 30 tonnes of vegetables, olives and eggs in his commune. A dark type of a party in ruins.
On the side of Mayor Sébastien Oulharan, the latter denounced the seriousness of the accusations made against him by Cédric Harrou. “To be accused of “surfing Storm Alex” is a rare indecency when we know the human and material consequences of this disaster, and we see the energy we are deploying to rebuild our valley,” he said. -he declared to our colleagues from Nice-matin.
“I can be criticized. But there is no reason why I should accept being insulted, dragged through the mud, defamed. So I found it normal to restore my honor,” he continued.
-“Freedom of local expression will be tainted”
After a first relay hearing, the case was postponed on November 8 by the court. On Facebook, the founder of Emmaüs Roya, Cédric Harrou, defended himself on January 5, once again targeting the mayor of his village.
“Through his multiple functions, he therefore has a lot of influence and power over citizens. And like many of his “friends” he cannot tolerate mockery, criticism or opposition. These poor tweets therefore lead us both to justice, which, I think, has better things to do than deal with squabbles on social networks,” he wrote.
“That I am on trial for my provocations, my invectives, my alerts is not surprising, I have paid the price since I helped precarious people in migration. What saddens and alarms me is that a political activist uses his elected mandate to finance a partisan squabble at the expense of his municipality,” he added.
He also asserted that, even if he won his case, “local freedom of expression will be irreversibly tainted. Out of fear, the population will therefore be enjoined to keep well behaved away from public debate and the management of common affairs, they will remain docile and silent.
