It all began on Wednesday with the publication of an article on the Internet site of French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur in which a journalist disclosed the content of a text message, allegedly sent by Sarkozy to his ex-wife eight days before his marriage with the singer Carla Bruni: "If you come back, I'll call the whole thing off." The journalist did not reveal the source of the information.

 

Internet - a less serious form of media?

On Thursday, Sarkozy's lawyer Thierry Herzog filed a lawsuit for "falsification, use of false documents and possession of stolen goods".

Le Nouvel Observateur's decision to publish this information on the Internet has provoked differing reactions. "We can't stop thinking that their choice has an ulterior motive. Perhaps Le Nouvel Observateur chose the Internet as a form of protection, telling itself that the Internet is a form of media where you are free to say whatever you like," says Francis Balle, founder of the French Media Institute.

But according to Frédéric Filloux, former managing editor at dailies Libération and 20 Minutes, rapidity was probably a decisive factor in deciding to publish the article on  www.nouvelobs.com <http://www.nouvelobs.com/> . "They put it online because the magazine had already been sent to the printer's, but I am positive they apply the same fastidiousness to both forms of media," says Filloux. 

The Nouvel Observateur's decision to publish the article on www.nouvelobs.com <http://www.nouvelobs.com/>  rather than in the magazine changes nothing in the eyes of the law: "The legal consequences are exactly the same," he adds.

"A lot of unpleasantness" over a "harmless rumour"

Web users have seized on the story, writing their opinions in blogs or recording their reactions online.

While most are content to repeat word-for-word the contents of the infamous text message, and to let rip on the marital life of Nicolas Sarkozy, some disapprove of the decision which led to its publication. "I think the information is completely phoney," says the author of the political blog authueil.org. He adds: "I was stunned to see this information, which has no solid foundation, being picked up and repeated everywhere."

A lot of comments on the information-sharing Web site www.wikio.fr <http://www.wikio.fr/>  refer to the Nouvel Observateur as a "vulgar news rag", urging the president to press charges. However, others argue that Sarkozy's response was out of proportion with that inflicted on him. Right-wing blogger Yves Daudai writes under the heading "Sarkozy the nit-picker": "Legally taking it out on the press, something neither Mitterrand nor Chirac would have done despite all the nasty 'revelations' made in their time, will cause a lot more unpleasantness for Sarkozy than a harmless rumour about a mysterious text message."

Jean-Francois Julliard, head of research at Reporters Sans Frontières, says he has never heard of such a case being brought against a magazine. "Libel law was reformed in 2002 and no longer involves imprisonment. Sarkozy's lawsuit aims to cause fear," he says. While lawsuits against the media usually involve libel or infringement of privacy, "falsification, use of false documents and possession of stolen goods" is punishable by up to three years in prison and is usually brought up in cases involving the faking of official documents.