Resumen de France: : Television report infringed presumption of innocence of the subject of the report
The Tribunal de Grande Instance (regional court - TGI) of Paris has delivered a judgment recalling the vigilance necessary on the part of production companies and television channels in order to respect the presumption of the innocence of people presented in reports. A public-sector television channel had broadcast a report entitled Rwanda: des prêtres accusés (Rwanda - priests under accusation) on the massacre which took place in Rwanda in 1994, claiming that a number of priests had taken part in the “genocide”, and that some of them, found guilty by courts in Rwanda, had been “exfiltrated by the Roman Catholic Church” and had found refuge in France. It was indicated that “Father W. M., found against in absentia (…) by the courts in Rwanda in 2006 (…) is living in France”, with images of the person concerned celebrating mass in a church in France. Claiming an infringement of the presumption of innocence in the first twenty minutes of the hour-long film, the priest instigated court proceedings against the television channel and the production companies concerned.
