“We are tired of hearing you and seeing your face on TV”. These are the words attributed to the men who violently attacked Paul François, the Charente farmer known for having condemned Monsanto after being poisoned by a herbicide. The attack occurred a week ago at the home of the farmer, in the town of Bernac, north of Angoulême, confirmed to AFP François Laffourgue, the victim’s lawyer.
Paul François was taken to task while he was in his garage. He received beatings and was “bound”, specifies his advice. According to Free Charente and France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine, his legs and arms were tied up. The suspects then fled when lights went on outside the home.
The lawyer says he is seriously considering filing a complaint, but the urgency was [que son client] sort of this traumatic episode. “We ask that the investigation be carried out as quickly as possible to find the culprits as soon as possible,” he adds.
A long fight against the Lasso herbicide
The farmer is known for the legal battle that led to the conviction in 2019 of the agrochemical group Monsanto, bought by the German Bayer. Paul François had been hospitalized after being intoxicated by the herbicide Lasso.
Monsanto was found liable for marketing “defective products”. And justice considered that the agrochemical group should have indicated the specific danger of using the product in the event of work in tanks but it did not decide on the toxicity of the Lasso itself. The 58-year-old Charente grain farmer was, for his part, to receive just over 11,000 euros in compensation.
At the announcement of his attack, Nicolas Girod, the spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne, gave him his “support”, asking that the protection of this “whistleblower” be reinforced.