“Bouffon va”, “you are shit”… The tone quickly rose Thursday evening on C8, on the set of “Touche pas à mon poste”, between the deputy LFI / Nupes Louis Boyard and the host Cyril Hanouna . A footage that sparks strong reactions online… And which could also lead to legal proceedings against the presenter who made these insults live.
At the origin of the quarrel, a remark by the young 22-year-old MP during a debate on the reception of the ship Ocean Viking. To underline the impoverishment of Africa, which leads to migratory crises, the elected official wanted to castigate the billionaire owner of the Canal + group and therefore of C8. “The five richest people are the same people who impoverish France and Africa. And I will give you the example of Bolloré which deforested Cameroon”, thundered Louis Boyard.
In question, the activities of another company of the French billionaire, Socapalm, which produces palm oil in Cameroon. He is also being sued by 145 Cameroonians who denounce the conditions of exploitation in plantations in West Africa.
Insults considered a “contempt”
The remark greatly displeased Cyril Hanouna, who multiplied the insults against Louis Boyard. “You’re a moron”, “go crazy”, “jester”, “you’re a shit”, “shut your mouth”, could we hear on television Thursday evening.
In law, these insults can directly lead to prosecution. In a circular published in September 2020, the Ministry of Justice suggested that prosecutors consider insults against elected officials as an “insult on a person holding public authority or charged with a public service mission”, a notch above the sole count of ” insults”. This measure concerns both mayors, other local elected officials and parliamentarians.
The Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, encouraged the prosecution to display a “systematic and rapid criminal response” to such acts, with “rapid handling of complaints filed” by the police.
To the courts which will have to judge these cases, he asked in particular to avoid “simple reminders of the law” and to favor “deferment, in particular in the event of reiteration of behavior which could appear, taken in isolation, of low intensity “.
Jail and/or fines
The author of a contempt of an officer may face a prison sentence of up to one year, and / or a fine of up to 7,500 or even 15,000 euros, depending on the circumstances.
This circular had been published in a context multiple attacks on local elected officials or deputies who defended, in particular, measures to combat Covid-19. In July, a man was, for example, sentenced by the Bordeaux court to a fine of 300 euros after insulting several local LREM elected officials who had been in favor of the health pass.
At this stage, Louis Boyard did not specify whether he was going to file a complaint against Cyril Hanouna. Denouncing an attempt at “censorship” by the host who defended the interests of Vincent Bolloré, he on the other hand announced, on Friday, to claim from the Assembly the opening of a commission of inquiry “to measure Vincent Bolloré’s interference in the media he owns”.
“The objective is in particular to audition Vincent Bolloré and Cyril Hanouna”, specifies the elected official. This request is made in parallel with an upcoming law proposal by Clémentine Autain “aiming to put an end to concentration in the media and the cultural industry”, he says.
For her part, the president of the LFI group in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, seized Arcom (ex-CSA) Thursday evening after the broadcast of the stormy sequence. “What happened last night on TPMP is extremely serious. nobody says shut upe to a member of my group, ”reacted the left-wing elected official on Twitter.