The city happens to have on its land about two thirds of La Défense, the high rise business district of Paris, which the French government decided 40 years ago to build just outside the city limits in what then were almost empty lands (actually a shanty town). It has grown into a huge business area (with 150,000 workers and 20,000 inhabitants) and of course, all these businesses pay some local taxes, a good chunk of which goes to the city of Puteaux. Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud has been mayor of the city since 1969, and one year ago he resigned to leave the job to his daughter, Joëlle Ceccaldi-Raynaud, while remaining as a deputy (and keeping all the strategic functions of the city). A member of the UMP (the main right wing party), he has effectively run the city as his personal fiefdom, using the vast amounts of money from La Défense to prop up his city and stifle opposition. His daughter was also the "suppléante" for Nicolas Sarkozy, the rising star of the French right and a strong contender to be the next President of France (the suppléant is there to replace a MP should he resign, as bit like the Vice President does for the President in the US) - she replaced him in the National Assembly while he was in government in 2002-2004 and she resigned in late 2004 to let him take the job back.

So, powerful people who don't tolerate opposition too well. Our blogger has been harassed repeatedly (insults, threats, arrests by the municipal police, prohibition from attending the city council). The city even bought the appartment next to his, and is spending 27,000 euros in legal fees to sue him

Ironically, he is being sued not for what he has written, but for quoting a newspaper article from Le Parisien (dated 26 April 2004) where an former town hall employee who had sued the city explained her case, and told how she had been threatened ("shut up, or you'll see what happens when one touches our friends"). He simply commented that, as he had himself been similarly threatened, he took that testimony seriously.

Thankfully, that story has now broken in the mainstream, makes the big headline of Libération (see the full article and the front page (pdf)), and is being talked about on the mainstream radios. Even better, the issue is being discussed as one of "stifling freedom of expression" (equivalent to first amendment issues) which means that in any case the city has already lost the PR battle.

So please have alook at his site and help him if you can (that's the "faire un don" paypal button on the right hand side of his site).

Let's have international solidarity within the left blogosphere!