The work of Radio-Canada journalist Josée Dupuis is called into question during her cross-examination conducted Tuesday by the lawyer for 42 police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) in Val-d’Or. The latter filed a defamation suit for more than $3 million after the broadcast in 2015 of a report from the show Investigation denouncing police abuse of indigenous women.
The police are seeking moral and punitive damages to compensate them for the harm suffered, they say, both personally and professionally. The report damaged their reputation, they have emphasized since Day 1 of the trial, which began on February 5.
In the report entitled “Abuse of the SQ: women break the silence”, Indigenous people from Abitibi recount having suffered sexual and physical assaults from SQ police officers. Some demanded sexual favors, including blowjobs, and others abandoned them on deserted roads, including the famous “airport path”, also called “girls’ path”. »
Radio-Canada maintains that the investigation was well done and that it was definitely in the public interest.
The police do not share this opinion and maintain in their action for damages that the report is “biased and misleading”.
On Tuesday, Josée Dupuis asserted with confidence that the report is not based on rumors, but on facts. Everything was corroborated with more than one source and multiple testimonies, she reiterated, after detailing it during her testimony Thursday.
Through his questions, the police lawyer, Me Marco Gaggino, notably implies that the women interviewed reported what others experienced, and not what happened to them personally.
He also asked the journalist if alcohol could have an impact on a person’s memory or their perception of an event.
To which the journalist replied that the women she interviewed were “bruised, struggling with problems”, but that even if they were in a state of intoxication at the time of the facts they reported, “that does not mean not to say that they are not credible. »
They are capable of reporting an attack, she insists: “It’s something that stands out. »
Mme Dupuis, who has been a journalist for more than 40 years, explained how she assesses credibility. And “I don’t take it as cash whatever the person tells me. »