Sports Minister referred to trial before the CJR for defamation – Libération

The minister was indicted last December in the investigation by the Court of Justice of the Republic following a complaint for defamation by the former boss of French football against her.

The war between the former boss of French football and the Minister of Sports will end in a hearing. The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) ordered this Thursday, July 4, the referral to trial of the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra for defamation against Noël Le Graët, the attorney general communicated after the Court of Cassation Rémy Heitz to AFP.

The person who acts as public prosecutor at the CJR announced that “this decision follows a defamation complaint filed on April 24, 2023 by Mr. Noël Le Graët. It concerns remarks made by Ms. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, in the exercise of her duties as minister, during a press conference on February 15, 2023 and an interview on March 5, 2023,” continued the top prosecutor of France. During these interventions, the Minister of the Olympic Games had criticized Noël Le Graët on his management of the French Football Federation (FFF) but maintained that she had never accused the resigning president of the “3F” of harassment.

In February 2023, Noël Le Graët resigned in a big way from the FFF, which he had led since 2011, after a damning audit report by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) on his management, against a backdrop of accusations of sexual harassment. The inspectors considered that the president “did not have [ait] more than the legitimacy necessary to administer and represent French football”, taking into account in particular his “inappropriate behavior […] towards women.

Five days to appeal to the Court of Cassation

A few hours after Noël le Graët’s resignation, his lawyer announced a complaint against Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. He claimed that the minister had “lied” about this report. The only jurisdiction empowered to judge ministers in the exercise of their functions, the CJR had opened a judicial investigation in June 2023 to examine the complaint of the former boss of French football. The Minister of Sports had been indicted on December 14 in the investigation.

This Thursday, Noël le Graët did not react to the decision to refer the case to trial, which “is likely to be the subject of an appeal in cassation, within five days,” the prosecutor also emphasized. The former boss of French football is himself the subject of an investigation in Paris, after accusations of moral and sexual harassment. He was heard in this procedure, in a free hearing, on January 29.