Canal+ TV crew attacked by Le Pen security guards

RSF deplored the physical attack today on a Canal+ TV crew by security guards of the right-wing National Front party and warned that press freedom would be in danger if the party came to power. Journalist John-Paul Lepers was roughed up and technical assistant Yacine Ben Jannette forcibly expelled from the room during a press conference given by party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen at the Front's headquarters in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud. "This is another act of physical intimidation of the media, especially of those considered most critical of the National Front," said RSF secretary-general Robert Ménard. "Behind the respectable image the party has tried to foster in recent years, verbal and physical aggression towards the media is constant and even part of its propaganda. "Freedom of information, the key to any democracy, would obviously be the first victim if Le Pen came to power," he warned. RSF notes that at least 15 journalists have been physically attacked while reporting on National Front activities between 1990 and 2000. The frequency of such attacks and threats, mainly by the party's DPS security service, was the subject of a 16-page report by RSF in September 1996. RSF also notes that a former member of the DPS revealed in 1997 that files were kept on journalists who cover the party's activities, along with their photos and personal details.