A preliminary investigation was opened against the football columnist Pierre Ménès, accused by a former collaborator of moral harassment, indicated, Thursday, December 26, a judicial source to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). The investigation also covers "Facts qualified at this stage of non-public sexist insults", said the Nanterre prosecution.
Known for his outspokenness, Pierre Ménès is the featured columnist for Canal football club on Canal +. The complainant, Emmanuel Trumer, worked from September 2017 to June 2018 with the journalist as a collaborator.
He filed a complaint in October for "Moral harassment" and announced it Tuesday on his Twitter account and in a post on his website. He also broadcast several SMS exchanges with the star journalist of Canal + in which he is notably treated of "Homosexual".
A year "in great difficulty" with Pierre Ménès
The sentences were "Out of context" according to Mr. Ménès’ lawyer, Arash Derambarsh. " Those are “Private jokes” between them, it was Mr. Trumer who first used the term "homosexual" ", assures the lawyer to the AFP, for whom "Pierre Ménès is clean".
The complainant’s lawyer, Didier Seban, said that his client "Was for a year in great difficulty with Mr. Ménès". "He is in a bad psychological state" and decided to file a complaint a year after the fact because of "The firepower of Mr. Ménès in football" which made him fear he would not find a job, says Me Seban.
For his part, Me Derambarsh has announced that it intends to prosecute Emmanuel Trumer "For harassment and / or defamation". "There is only one victim, that is Pierre Ménès. Mr. Trumer instrumentalizes the media for his personal interest and to be framed ”, denounces Me Derambarsh.
