A bomb threat targeted, on Monday, “Le Poher”, a Breton weekly newspaper. No explosives were detected. On franceinfo, Erwan Chartier-Le Floch, the editor-in-chief, victim of several death threats, underlines that this event comes after legal proceedings against an ultra-right site.
For the editor-in-chief of the regional weekly “Le Poher”, there is no doubt that the death threats received and the bomb threat of Monday February 20 in the newspaper’s premises in Carhaix, are an extension of the Callac affair. The mayor of this Breton town wanted to revitalize his village, but faced with pressure from residents and a hostile campaign led by the far right, the city councilor reconsidered his choice and gave up hosting a center for refugees.
Since many journalists were targeted. “We received a phone call telling us that there was a bomb in the editorial office.explains Erwan Chartier-Le Floch, the editor of the local weekly. We were forced to evacuate the editorial staff all morning.” On franceinfo, the editor-in-chief recalls that these acts of intimidation took place after two complaints filed by the newspaper against an ultra-right site.
franceinfo: Do you have the assurance, the certainty and the conviction that it is far-right activists who are behind these threats?
Erwan Chartier-Le Floch: So obviously, I let the police, the gendarmerie do their investigation and we cannot determine precisely who is doing this at the moment. But I note, all the same, that it comes after we initiated proceedings, a legal summons against an ultra-right site for public insult and defamation. The threats came immediately after. Maybe it’s just a coincidence…
On this site you were personally targeted?
Since then, we have had the right to a slightly delirious or psychedelic prose and above all, we put my photo and that of a journalist in evidence. We kind of feel like targets.
For what reasons ? Do you wonder how it can go so far?
I think there is a method, a method to intimidate, to terrorize. It has already been done against elected officials in Callac, precisely for these refugees, who were not migrants, who were refugees with papers. They exaggerated the number of families that were to arrive.
“They launched a whole disinformation campaign and above all a campaign of pressure on elected officials. There too, there were a dozen complaints of death threats against elected officials after messages of insults or threats.
Erwan Chartier-Le Floch, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Le Poher”at franceinfo
There has been misinformation. Do you think that today, we want to prevent you from doing information with your newspaper “Le Poher”?
We were very attacked by this site. There was an article that we found offensive, which we defended ourselves against, we filed a judicial summons, that’s all. After us, we are a local newspaper, we reported on the various events of the project. We obviously interviewed elected officials, but also opponents. We never said that it was illegitimate to contest this project. But obviously, for them, we are not in their ideology so it does not pass.
How does the population of your territory experience these events?
The population experiences this quite badly, it is difficult. People no longer want to talk, it creates tensions on the territory. While the reception of refugees in general is going very well here, there is no problem in the small towns. This brought media coverage that was a bit disturbing for people. She therefore saw it rather badly. Local elected officials were elected by the population, so these representative people and seeing them threatened is never a very good sign.
Does that mean that part of the objectives of those who threaten you have been achieved, because that makes your work with the population more difficult?
Not necessarily, we are integrated, we live here, we work here, we know the people. We know the area very well. On the side of the opponents to this project, there were local people, who quickly broke away from the ultra-right, who are people who live elsewhere and who seized this opportunity to make a political coup.
Your wish today is to continue to do your job?
Yes, that’s really it. We are Breton journalists, we like our work. We want to continue to provide general information on this territory with news that is often rich but hey there, it’s a bit dramatic.
