Guilty of defamation, the author of the satirical blog "Le gabian déchaîné" has been shut up but intends to appeal

"I'm going to become a textbook case. " Reynold Ignace didn't think so when he discovered that a group of middle school students were waiting in the same courtroom this Friday at noon. A month after Hyères officials, the author of the satirical blog Le gabian déchaîné was back on the grill at the Toulon Criminal Court. The cause? An August 2024 article titled "When the notables exceed the Bormes," denouncing a blunder by Olivier Gritti, chief of staff to Mayor François Arizzi. This time, he received a penalty: €6,000 (out of the €9,900 requested). That's a €1,500 fine, €2,000 in moral damages, and €2,500 in court costs.

"Those who reveal a criminal act are sentenced more severely than those who commit it: that's the message sent by justice," says Reynold Ignace, who has decided to appeal. He intends to strengthen his defense by further demonstrating that everything he wrote "is based on proven facts," and that he cross-checked "hearing reports," "medical certificates," "sick leave," and "victim's testimony." All of this was apparently intended to obtain an adversarial hearing.

The Gabian investigation recounts the night of June 1st, after the Bormes-les-Mimosas fireworks. That evening, the woman who calls herself Manon tries to intervene during a public argument between Olivier Gritti, chief of staff to the mayor of Bormes, described as being "drunk as a Pole," and his wife (Mrs. Moncelet), whom he allegedly threatened after falling off her bike. Things escalate until Manon receives a slap from François Arizzi's right arm, which reportedly knocks her "literally out standing up." In a panic, the couple's daughter arrives on the scene in her car. And takes everyone with her. Before the police arrive.

One fact, two measures?

For these acts, Olivier Gritti was sentenced to 300 euros in damages and 400 euros in fines, as well as a citizenship course under the composition penalty regime. He was found guilty of "violence while clearly drunk followed by incapacity not exceeding eight days." It is above all the wording of the Gabian's unleashed paper that the criminal court is sanctioning today. In particular this passage: "The question then remains whether, despite his pugilistic methods, which are questionable to say the least, administering slaps to his constituents, Olivier Gritti will be able to keep his position as chief of staff?"

"I was the only one to denounce this omerta," Reynold Ignace emphasizes. "I would rewrite the article if I had to do it all over again. And with a few minor nuances, it would be the same." He adds: "True to the French tradition of satire, what I am being criticized for today is that I am exaggerating an abnormal situation. I will continue to do so. If I lose a few feathers, it takes more to clip my wings."

For his part, Romain Callen, lawyer for Olivier Gritti and his wife, said he was "satisfied" with the decision, which is "quite rare in this area," while regretting that the court did not uphold the defamation concerning his client's wife.

Whatever the cost, the man who pens the unchained Gabian isn't done with the law yet. On May 16, he will have to answer two more defamation charges brought by his number one source of inspiration: Jean-Pierre Giran, mayor of Hyères and president of the Toulon metropolitan area. The reason for these proceedings? Revelations about the behind-the-scenes construction of the Hyères nautical shopping center and another on the same case, titled "The Saint-Cyrien Clan: Part 2." To be continued, then.