Cyberharassment: identity activist Damien Rieu sentenced to eight months in prison

“Etre enfin reconnue comme une victime, pour moi c’était fondamental”, a commenté Sarah Frikh à la sortie du tribunal. C.S. – Midi Libre

In this case, the former radio columnist on RTL, Sarah Frikh, accused the former communicator from the town of Beaucaire (Gard) of being the instigator of a surge of hatred that she had suffered on the web, particularly in 2017.

This Friday, May 17, before the Nîmes criminal court, the only defendant of the afternoon is sorely missed by his absence. Prosecuted for "harassment of a person by means of an online public communication service, by repeated comments or behavior  having as its object, or effect, the deterioration of the living conditions of a person", the young Reconquest candidate for Europeans,   requested as a preliminary matter the adjournment of the hearing. On the grounds of his active participation in the last turn of the electoral campaign. In vain.

Facing a pack

2:30 p.m. During the hearing chaired by Jean-Michel Perez, Sarah Frikh, very moved, calmly responds to the questions that come from the various lawyers.

She whose personal comment on a video by Marion Maréchal – "I hate you, go die, not in peace please bitch " – that she had posted in a restricted circle on her Snapchat account, had been revealed to the general public, on Twitter, by Damien Rieu whose account is followed by no less than 250 ;000 followers.

"Prior to this video, first of all the face of my client presented as a target, as well as her phone number& ;nbsp;minus two figures, which were thrown out onto the web by the accused. Thus giving the starting point to the inevitable surge of hatred which followed and which clearly destroyed his life, pointed out the lawyers in the civil party.

For the public prosecutor, Frédéric Kocher, there is no doubt that the offense of moral harassment is well constituted in this case. "Madame suddenly found herself facing a pack. The accused, who belongs to the identity movement and is followed by thousands of subscribers, knew that by broadcasting this video and this personal information he would provoke a massive, very violent reaction, also denounced the magistrate to request eight months of suspended imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 euros against Damien Rieu.

"I suffered everything, before losing everything"

Death threats, rape, insults and racial insults on social networks and on his cell phone, misuse of his image on pornographic sites… Sarah Frikh, at the time of the events, a columnist on the most listened to radio station in France, claims to have suffered everything in this affair.

"In 2017, I was a negotiator on Julien Courbet's show on the most listened to radio station in France. I had a fiancé and the plan to become a mother. Before losing everything: my job, my partner and my child in utero", she says in a quavering voice.

Holding an aerosol bronchodilator firmly in her hands, the young woman here believes she was the victim of a raid, an assault, a a real destructive cabal, in accordance with a well-established operating procedure thanks to which the accused has, according to her, already proven himself.

"Broadcasting his own video on Snapchat was absolutely not private. My client does not have to be held accountable for the unacceptable comments made publicly by others regarding Madame" finally argued Damien Rieu’s lawyer who was hoping for an acquittal.

At 6:30 p.m., he was found guilty of moral harassment. The Nimes criminal court sentenced him to 8 months' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 euros, including 4,000 euros. suspended.

Two hours later, the person concerned reacted on X with the following comment: "I am considered responsible for the unpleasant comments that ;she (Sarah Frikh, Editor's note) received following my revelations… yes I know it’s crazy. Imagine a journalist condemned because the readers of his article vilified X or Y following revelations ? No obviously it’s ridiculous. It is therefore a political condemnation obviously. They wanted to be Rieu. But I'm not worried because I almost always lost in the first instance and won 11 times on appeal, the judges are more serious".

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