Justice has been done. The French Court of Cassation - equivalent to our Supreme Court - has just closed the Clearstream affair: journalist Denis Robert is innocent. This scandalous case has clouded French political life for the last ten years. It has brought together the classic elements of a thriller: payment of commissions on the sale of frigates to Taiwan; dirty maneuvers by Dominique Villepin against his then rival Nicolas Sarkozy; intervention of the espionage and counter-espionage services; involvement of the government, with President Chirac at the head. The plot of reality far exceeded the imagination. At the center of the conspiracy was the Luxembourg-based financial company Clearstream. Denis Robert, the veteran editor of Libération, investigated the intricate affair in depth, which resulted in two books and television reports that caused a sensation. Among other things, he accused Clearstream of complicity in the laundering of dirty money. A scandal with such ingredients immediately had European and even global repercussions.

The company went after him, with libel suits and demands for compensation. Successive court rulings condemned Robert. The tension and unpleasantness drove him to the edge of madness and financial ruin. Finally, after ten years, the Court of Cassation has annulled the previous judgments and rehabilitated his good name. The sentence recognizes that the journalist's chronicles include some errors of detail, an excusable imperfection in view of the complexity of the case, but the court saves the rigor and honesty of his investigations. It remains to be determined how much compensation Clearstream will have to pay him. His books and television reports, seized by court order, can now be freely disseminated. Robert, who gave up his official document in despair and has recently made a living as a painter, is happy, and the journalistic profession and the public rejoice at this new victory of David against Goliath.

In France, freedom of expression is going through difficult times. Seventy percent of French newspapers are in the hands of two businessmen, Lagardère and Dassault, who curiously operate in the same aeronautics and armaments sector. A third in discord, Bouygues, an important constructor, owns the television channel TF 1. The three, lifelong friends of Sarkozy, unscrupulously take advantage of their media to do business or to influence the government.

Airplanes, cannons, bricks and information make up an explosive cocktail, in which journalists and audiences have very little to say. The latest in an endless chain of similar incidents: the prestigious journalist Georges Malbrunot dared to write in Le Figaro about a certain Arab country. Dassault, which negotiates to sell him aircraft, did not like the report and ordered the editor to be fired. Le Figaro's General Manager , Francis Morel, tried to oppose this decision and he was the one who was fired. That's the way Mr. Dassault is. Lagardère and Bouygues do not lag behind him when it comes to defending their own interests or pleasing Sarkozy. A phone call from the President, annoyed by the approach of some news item, is enough for journalists or TV presenters to be dismissed outright. Critical voices take refuge in marginal media and on the Internet or, like Francis Morel, end up unemployed.

It is moving to see a lonely hero, sick and ruined, fight against power without giving up. Robert refused numerous out-of-court settlements offered to him by Clearstream: he wanted justice and the truth to come out, not a shameful compromise. Robert certainly had one circumstance in his favor: an independent and impartial Court of Cassation. From the point of view of freedom of expression and media independence, we have little to envy France. It is true that our national press is too ideologized, but at least the regional press fulfills with dignity the role of the media in a democratic society. On the other hand, contemplating the lamentable spectacle surrounding the functioning of our highest courts, I am deeply envious of the French Court of Cassation.

We need examples of civic courage, of unwavering honesty. The case of Denis Robert sample that, no matter how adverse and powerful the system may seem, a person of integrity and tenacity can defeat it. Justly so.