French politicians and newspapers reacted with shock and consternation yesterday to the brutal pre-dawn arrest of a senior newspaper executive over a relatively trivial libel case.
Vittorio de Filippis, former publisher of the centre-left newspaper, Libération, was insulted and handcuffed in front of his children by police who raided his home near Paris at 6.30am. He was later strip-searched twice. One of the officers called M. de Filippis "worse than scum", using the word, racaille, once used by President Nicolas Sarkozy to describe multi-racial youth gangs.
More on Reporters Without Borders: Reporters Without Borders today protested at the “unacceptable and humiliating” treatment of journalist Vittorio de Filippis, managing editor of the daily Libération from May to December 2006, who was arrested at his home in the early morning, detained and subjected to body searches before being taken before a Paris judge.