For four days, Michel Gaillard, president of Le Canard from 1992 to July 2023, Nicolas Brimo, who succeeded him, the former designer André Escaro and his partner Edith Venderdaele, will be tried before the 11th criminal chamber of the Paris court.
They will have to answer for misuse of corporate assets or concealment of this offense, fraudulent declaration to obtain a press card, forgery and use of forgery and fraudulent declaration to a social organization.
Their lawyers, however, want to request the postponement of the trial due to the health problems of the defendants, Nicolas Brimo, 73 years old, and André Escaro, 96 years old.
Gérard Depardieu affair: Catherine Deneuve and Alain Chabat removed at the last minute from the signatories of the forum defending the actor?
The affair broke out in May 2022. Christophe Nobili, one of the journalists behind the revelations about the fictitious jobs of François Fillon’s wife during the 2017 presidential campaign, filed a complaint against X.
He denounces the fact that the partner of André Escaro, cartoonist and former administrator of the newspaper, would have benefited from remuneration from the newspaper for 25 years without having worked there.
According to a July 2023 summary report from the financial brigade, revealed by Mediapart and of which AFP was aware, André Escaro explained to investigators that once he retired in 1996, he continued to send weekly drawings and that he had agreed with the directors of the newspaper so that his partner, who gave him “a moral and technical contribution to the preparation of the caricatures”, would be paid by the newspaper.
“Personal interests”
However, “the only tangible action” that emerged from the investigations is that Ms. Vanderdaele transmitted the drawings “every week by fax or email to Le Canard chainé”, specifies the report.
The damage was estimated at nearly 1.5 million euros between 2010 and 2022, the period retained by the investigators, with acts committed before 2010 being prescribed.
Contacted by AFP, the defense lawyers did not respond.
“The maneuvers of the former leaders caused several million euros of damage for Le Canard, and above all, posed a risk to its credibility,” Pierre-Olivier Lambert, lawyer for Christophe Nobili, told AFP.
“Justice must now firmly sanction the abuses of these leaders who clearly favored their personal interests over those of this historic newspaper,” he added.
According to the lawyer, six other shareholders of the newspaper, including the historic editor-in-chief Claude Angeli, will join as a civil party alongside Christophe Nobili during the trial.
Julien Cazarre files a complaint against Cyril Hanouna and Enora Malagré
In March 2023, the latter published “Cher Canard” (JCLattès), a work covering this whole affair, which revealed fractures within the editorial staff.
After its publication, the management initiated a dismissal procedure against the journalist, but was rejected four times, by the labor inspectorate and by the minister, according to Me Lambert. A new appeal was launched by Le Canard before the administrative court.
For his part, Mr. Nobili initiated proceedings for harassment against Nicolas Brimo and Michel Gaillard, with the support of the SNJ-CGT and SNJ unions. A hearing before the industrial tribunal is scheduled for November 29.
Furthermore, the weekly filed a complaint in March 2024, considering itself the victim of an “illegal digital search” via a digital “link” provided by Mr. Nobili.
This complaint was dismissed in July for lack of infringement, but the newspaper filed another complaint with a civil action to obtain referral to an investigating judge.
