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Azerbaijan authorities sued the French TV channel France 2 and its journalists Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard for calling the president of Azerbaijan a “dictator” and Azerbaijan a dictatorship during the program Cash Investigation, the French newspaper Le Figaro reports, according to the website of the newspaper Azadlig.

According to the report, the lawsuit was filed in the French court in the city Nanterre by Olivier Pardo, a French lawyer hired by the Azerbaijani side. The lawyer said Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, demands to punish the TV channel.

Commenting on the lawsuit, Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard, the journalists, told Le Figaro that they were sure they would win the case because they would be able to deny Azerbaijani authorities’ claims with the help of civil society organizations.

The newspaper reminds that interviews with human rights activists and Azerbaijani oppositionists were shown during the program.
“We did our work in Azerbaijan, that is why Azerbaijan’s authorities will not be able to win the case. Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International will defend us during the trial,” the journalists stated.

Le Figaro further reminds that a similar case was initiated against the French website Rue 89 in 2011 for calling Lola Karimova, Uzbekistan president’s daughter, a “dictator’s daughter,” and the president – “a launderer of dirty money.” The 17th chamber of High Court of Paris rejected the lawsuit.

Cash Investigation is a program where issues, which are important for the French society, are discussed, particularly the abuses taking place in the financial and economic sphere, legal and moral violations, as well as problems of managing state resources.

The issue dedicated to Azerbaijan was broadcast in the frameworks of the TV program “Mon président est en voyage d'affaires” (“My President is on a business trip”). The authors wrote in the description that they started their investigation with Azerbaijan, “one of the most repressive regimes” in the world.

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