Liberation arrest- Sarkozy weighs in

PRESIDENT Sarkozy has said he understands the emotion raised by the treatment of a newspaper editor who was arrested at his home, strip searched and questioned in connection with a libel case.

His comments came after both Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie and Justice Minister Rachida Dati made statements of support for the police, following the arrest of Libération editor Vittorio de Filippis.

He said he had asked the avocat général of the Cour de justice to look into an arrest procedure that was “more respectful of the rights and dignity of people”.

The avocat général can investigate legal procedures and report with conclusions as to how they can be improved.

Sarkozy added that the decriminalisation of libel cases is part of a package of legal reforms due for debate at the beginning of 2009.

The director of Libération Laurent Joffrin said he took a “certain satisfaction” that Sarkozy had “contradicted in two phrases his justice minister and minister of the interior”.

Vittorio de Filippis was arrested at his home on Friday and questioned in relation to a libel suit brought by the founder of Free Internet Xavier Niels.

Mr Filippis said he was handcuffed, insulted in front of his children by police officers and subjected to two strip searches.

Both the justice minister and the interior minister have said officers were following procedures, while the latter denied that Mr Filippis was handcuffed in front of his children.

A report by police officers said they were “courteous and patient” and denied insulting Mr Filippis. An official investigation has been opened.

Mr Filippis was held for five hours at a Paris police station sparking outcry among human rights groups, journalists’ unions and politicians.

A spokesman for the governing UMP party Frédéric Lefebvre said: "The methods used in a simple case of libel appear so disproportionate that there should be an investigaton."

Press group Reporters Without Borders said they were “outraged by the intolerable and humiliating methods.”

"This is unprecedented in France. To treat a journalist like a criminal and resort to procedures such as body searches is not only shocking but also unworthy of French justice.”

Police sources told the AFP news service that the judge ordered the arrest after Filippis refused to answer a previous warrant.

Libération is France's third most popular national newspaper with a readership of 135,000. It was founded by Jean Paul Sartre, Benny Lévy, Serge July and Pierre Victor in 1973 following the protest movements of May 1968. It is seen now as a socialist newspaper.