France: EFJ calls for protection of journalist Philippe Miller’s sources
On 4 December, journalist Philippe Miller was arrested by a dozen police officers and placed in police custody for 48 hours for investigating a Parisian law firm. The search of his seized equipment has just been authorized by the liberty and detention judge during a hearing on the contestation of the searched seals.
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliates strongly condemn the judicial intimidation of journalists and reiterate the importance of upholding the fundamental right to the confidentiality of sources.
On 18 October, Philippe Miller, who works for the online press site “Warning Trading”, which specialises in news about financial scams on the Internet, revealed manifestly illegal practices by the law firm Ziegler. On 4 December, following a complaint of “theft” by the said firm, Miller and the firm’s former intern were arrested during a meeting in a Paris café by a dozen police officers divided into three cars. The journalist’s mobile phone, computer, and confidential notes were confiscated.
Miller was released without charge on 6 December after refusing to reveal his sources. The former intern was charged with theft of confidential information (including exchanges with clients), concealment, and breach of professional secrecy.
On 19 December, a hearing on the challenge to the search seals was held before the Paris Judge of Liberties and Detention, who had authorised the search of the seized equipment in defiance of French law and European standards on the protection of sources.
“The arrest in the company of his source, the excessively long police custody and the seizure of the work equipment of our journalist client have set a worrying precedent for the entire profession. The use of these measures, as they deliberately seek to violate the confidentiality of sources, represent serious and disproportionate violations of the protections that journalists should normally enjoy,” said Octave Nitkowski, one of Philippe Miller’s lawyers.
“The EFJ strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest of the journalist and the authorization granted by the judge of freedoms to seize and search his equipment, thus endangering the protection of his sources. Two similar incidents, including the one involving Blast and journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, have been recorded in France on the Media Freedom Rapid Response platform since 2023. This new violation of the confidentiality of sources once again demonstrates the willingness of the French judicial authorities to criminalise and obstruct investigations in the public interest, to the detriment of the fundamental right to inform,” said Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary.
This statement was produced by EFJ as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries.
