Sarkozy's Wife Assails Journalist Over Text Message Report
PARIS (AFP) - France's new first lady Carla Bruni on Wednesday accused a journalist of dishonesty for reporting that President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent his ex-wife a text message asking her to come back to him.
In a statement to Le Monde, Bruni also said that Sarkozy had decided to drop a lawsuit against the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur which ran the report, after the journalist apologised to her.
Sarkozy last month lodged the complaint against the weekly for reporting he had sent a text message to ex-wife Cecilia eight days before his marriage to Bruni that said: "If you come back, I'll call it all off."
Sarkozy last month lodged the complaint against the weekly for reporting he had sent a text message to ex-wife Cecilia eight days before his marriage to Bruni that said: "If you come back, I'll call it all off."
"What is dishonest and worrisome in this whole episode is that at no point was this 'information' checked, corroborated or confirmed," said Bruni in a statement called: "Stop the slander."
Journalist Airy Routier separately confirmed he had written to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to apologise for any unpleasantness she may have suffered, but he added that he stood by his story.
"It was a personal letter in which I never called into question the authenticity of the SMS. I am totally firm on that point," said Routier.
During questioning by police earlier this month, Cecilia had denied receiving such a text message.
The president had filed suit on February 7 against the weekly's website for falsification and other charges in the case, a first by a sitting president in France.
Sarkozy remarried on February 2, less than four months after ending his stormy 11-year marriage to Cecilia, with whom he has a young son, Louis. The couple announced their divorce on October 18.
"My husband is not attacking the freedom of the press," wrote Bruni, a former supermodel turned singer. "Far from being a despot, he is protecting everyone's freedom."
Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz is to marry events organiser Richard Attias in New York on Saturday. She had briefly left Sarkozy in 2005 for Attias.
In a statement to Le Monde, Bruni also said that Sarkozy had decided to drop a lawsuit against the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur which ran the report, after the journalist apologised to her.
Sarkozy last month lodged the complaint against the weekly for reporting he had sent a text message to ex-wife Cecilia eight days before his marriage to Bruni that said: "If you come back, I'll call it all off."
Sarkozy last month lodged the complaint against the weekly for reporting he had sent a text message to ex-wife Cecilia eight days before his marriage to Bruni that said: "If you come back, I'll call it all off."
"What is dishonest and worrisome in this whole episode is that at no point was this 'information' checked, corroborated or confirmed," said Bruni in a statement called: "Stop the slander."
Journalist Airy Routier separately confirmed he had written to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to apologise for any unpleasantness she may have suffered, but he added that he stood by his story.
"It was a personal letter in which I never called into question the authenticity of the SMS. I am totally firm on that point," said Routier.
During questioning by police earlier this month, Cecilia had denied receiving such a text message.
The president had filed suit on February 7 against the weekly's website for falsification and other charges in the case, a first by a sitting president in France.
Sarkozy remarried on February 2, less than four months after ending his stormy 11-year marriage to Cecilia, with whom he has a young son, Louis. The couple announced their divorce on October 18.
"My husband is not attacking the freedom of the press," wrote Bruni, a former supermodel turned singer. "Far from being a despot, he is protecting everyone's freedom."
Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz is to marry events organiser Richard Attias in New York on Saturday. She had briefly left Sarkozy in 2005 for Attias.
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