In October I mentioned that French news website Rue 89 was being sued for defamation, because of an article which used my
Panama database
to link French businessman Eric de Sérigny to firms in Panama.
The case has now been dropped.
Rue89 has given Sérigny a right to reply space, presumably as part of the deal. He concedes that the original reporting was ‘serious’, but still denies the allegations, and suggests it’s a case of identity theft.
So that’s something of a relief. Props to Rue 89 for standing by their story, and to David Leloup for writing it in the first place. I wince to imagine the time and money it must have taken to defend the article.
I still have no idea what all the fuss was about; the original article seemed well-documented but not exactly damning. Now it’s all blown over, at least so far as I can tell from over here.