The court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre dismissed on Tuesday the criminal defamation charges brought by Azerbaijani government against two French journalists for calling the country a "dictatorship." In its November 7 ruling, the court dismissed the complaint for being ‘unacceptable.’ The hearing was the first case, involving a foreign government bringing a defamation suit against journalists before a French court.
To remind, Azerbaijan sued journalists Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard working for the France 2 network for defamation over a 2015 investigative report. The reporters were accused of defaming the Azerbaijani government by referring to it as a "dictatorship" when the former Soviet republic received a visit from then French president Francois Hollande.
The court decision was explained by references to the press law which “is designed to ensure the f...
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