2 December 2008

PARIS – The French government was forced to fight off accusations of intimidating the media Monday after police arrested, handcuffed and strip-searched a newspaper boss wanted for questioning in a libel case.

The account by Vittorio de Filippis, of the left-wing Liberation newspaper, of his five-hour detention Friday at a Paris area police station has sparked an outcry from rights groups, journalists' unions and politicians.

Filippis said he was handcuffed, strip-searched twice and questioned without a lawyer present after police turned up at his house before dawn and took him in to answer a libel complaint from the head of an Internet service provider.

France's Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie defended the police officers involved, saying they had "followed procedures" and were acting on the orders of the investigating judge handling the case.

Justice Minister Rachida Dati also fought off charges of heavy-handedness, saying the judge ordered the arrest after Filippis refused to answer a previous subpoena and that the procedure was "quite normal".

The opposition Socialist Party attacked what it called "unacceptable methods whose sole aim is to hamper press freedoms", urging President Nicolas Sarkozy to order a full investigation.

When Sarkozy stepped into the fray Monday, he said he understood the "emotion" sparked by the newsman's arrest and announced he was setting up a mission charged with reviewing arrest procedures to make them "more respectful of rights and individual dignity."

Filippis said he was humiliated in front of his two young sons when police turned up at his house.

At the station, he said he was forced to undress and was subjected twice to body cavity searches.