“I learned this (Wednesday) evening that the judge decided to add (into the file) almost all of the documents that were seized from my apartment,” says Ariane Lavrilleux in a video.
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Investigative journalist Ariane Lavrilleux described “very worrying” the decision, taken by a judge of freedoms and detention, to validate the seizures made at his home as part of an investigation into breaches of defense secrecy, of which the media Disclose is accused. “I learned this (Wednesday) evening that the judge decided to pay (on file) almost all of the pieces that were seized from my apartment”, said the journalist in a video posted on social networks, Wednesday September 27. According to the Disclose website, “seven pieces out of ten” will be included in the investigation file.
“Handwritten notes, emails… It is an absolutely scandalous decision, very worrying (…) for journalists and all of you who inform us on a daily basis on sensitive matters which affect the responsibility of the State”, insisted Ariane Lavrilleux. The journalist, who collaborates with the investigative site Disclose, was placed in police custody for 39 hours, between September 19 and 20.
This police custody was carried out as part of a judicial investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, for compromising national defense secrets and revealing information allowing the discovery of the identity of intelligence agents. The searches carried out at his Marseille home were contested by his defense, in the name of freedom of the press and the protection of the secrecy of sources. The investigation focuses on several articles published by Disclose since 2019. They relate to French arms sales abroad, but also to Operation “Sirli”, a French intelligence mission in Egypt that this country allegedly diverted to target and kill opponents.