Loic Le Meur Blog: A French blogger arrested by the Police because of his blogging

May 15, 2004

A French blogger arrested by the Police because of his blogging

Posted at 19:12 in Blogging about blogging, France | Permalink | 14 Comments

Christophe blogs on monputeaux.com. He is a citizen of the city Puteaux that is close to Paris.

Christophe does not like the way the city mayor manages the city, spends the public money and says it on his blog, every day. He has been very successful doing that, with hundreds of inhabitants of Puteaux reading and commenting his blog everyday and many national newspapers that talked about his blog.

Christophe criticizes the city management so much that they have tried to stop him for months, the city mayor has even sent him threats over the phone that he recorded and blogged, of course.

Today, he has been stopped in the street by the Police Municipale (the local French Police) who tried to arrest him for his blogging. Fortunately for Christophe, the National Police arrived immediately as they found what was happening weird, and let him go.

It is such a shame. Let's not stop the bloggers express themselves (as long as it is legal, of course, and it is legal here) !

Do you know any other story of a blogger arrested by the Police ?

* Update: Christophe just filed a complaint at the National Police for "abuse in power", good luck, Christophe ! *

Le maire de Puteaux est un autocrate bien connu. Bon courage a Christophe !

Philippe, May 16, 2004 at 06:15

Oh, men. Is it a true story?
How come people can be arrested due to blogging?

Thanks for the report and please keep us updated!

Nob, May 16, 2004 at 08:28

LlM said: "Let's not stop the bloggers express themselves (as long as it is legal, of course, and it is legal here)!"

Let's blog even where it is *not* legal, especially where it is not legal! Let's be subversive. A country where blogging is supressed enjoys no freedom of expression, and needs change, which can often not be brought about by methods left legal in such a country.

See, for example, this underground blog:
http://muttawa.blogspot.com/

BTW, I heard it is not legal in France to encrypt personal e-mail. It that is true, let's everybody use PGP and see what powers to be do about that!

Cheers!
Bonzi, Zagreb, Croatia

Bonzi, May 16, 2004 at 13:00

I live in the USA. Since 9/11 our country has been trampling on the civil rights of everyone, not just the terrorists. They say that the loss of some of our civil liberties is necessary in order to nab the bad guys. But what excuse is there for the horrific treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war? In order to remain free we must be vigilant of those who would take away our freedoms. This is as true in America as in France or anywhere else in the world. Blogging helps.

Bill, May 17, 2004 at 15:55

if he can give proof for what he says or can tell sources, then he should be allowed to blog about whatever he wants to. i lately was asked to take down comments of a person on my blog about my city, because somebody of the city was pissed about it. i thought about it and took down the comments, because i personally cannot guarantee that what the person commented on my blog is true. but if i had been able to give proof for what he said, then i would have just kept the comments online. though i'm gonna do research on the subject in the near future. and when i've got proof i'll write about it myself.

Michelle, May 17, 2004 at 17:56

Thank you all for your comments. Christophe is very happy to see all the support he got from bloggers, I think we'll see many examples like this in the future, and hopefully we'll get less bad city mayors and other bad governance.

Loic, May 17, 2004 at 18:05

Bill,

name one of your civil liberties that has been trampled on and give us an exmple of how it has changed your life.

i think you are full of BS and have probably not even read the Patriot Act.

the sky is falling, the sky is falling.

good luck, Christophe.

jcrue, May 17, 2004 at 22:24

Jcrue,

It is you who said, "The sky is falling.' I certainly did not. Yes, I have read the Patriot Act. Are you simply being obtuse, or do you actually have a point? An example: When a Frenchman got on a flight to America with an explosive in his shoe, our officials decided that every American should remove their shoes for inspection before being allowed to board an aircraft. It mattered not whether you were native-born and merely traveling to Wisconsin, or a terrorist arriving from Algeria. But hey, let's not fight about it. You have read the Patriot Act and declare that all is well. The loss of freedom never comes in one bold stroke. The sky does not fall. It is slowly erroded. As I stand in the great line at LaGuardia, I am seething to tell you, it has changed my life almost daily, as it has for millions of other American travelers. But more than shoe inspections, it is government intrusion into my library reading habits, emails, and finances that are also a potential threat to my liberties.If you believe that these are mere minor inconveniences, I have a bridge in Brooklin to sell you. Have a good day, sir.

Bill, May 18, 2004 at 15:14

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

-----Samuel Adams

http://ambi-partisan.com/Great%20Quotes.html

Carolyn, June 07, 2005 at 18:50

I've been following the story of several Singaporean bloggers that have actually served jail time and paid fines for comments they made against Muslims on their blogs.

http://antiracistlosers.blogspot.com/2005/09/teen-bloggers-face-jail-for-racist.html

http://antiracistlosers.blogspot.com/2005/10/racist-blogger-deeply-ashamed.html

http://antiracistlosers.blogspot.com/2005/10/4th-blogger-hunted-down-for-racist.html

NewsGuy, November 08, 2005 at 07:43

I moved to France in 2001 and overall I'm quite happy here. There are only 2 things that really bother me and one of these is corruption. It starts at the top (with the President of the republic) and goes all the way to the bottom (the local mayor's office). And it is not just my opinion; there are a number of studies of corruption by country and France does very poorly for a 1st world country. It's a shame as the people themselves are not bad. So I'm not surprised that a local mayor would use his influence in this way.

Moved-to-France, August 30, 2006 at 22:38

How interesting. A much more professional looking site than the rest.

Linda Noto, February 13, 2007 at 01:30

thank you blog owner
really this is nice ablog
sohbet
sohbet odasi

sohbet, September 19, 2007 at 08:30

And I just read that there is a law prohibiting non-journalists from photographing or taking a video of the riots that took place (are taking place?) in Saint-Dizier. That is outrageous!!

TeachESL, October 06, 2007 at 19:28

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About

Welcome to my blog. Based in San Francisco, I am an entrepreneur and a blogger. I just started my fifth startup, Seesmic, a community driven video social software. Here is what TechCrunch says about it.

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Trying to suck less daily

May 15, 2004

A French blogger arrested by the Police because of his blogging

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