The producers of debt carrots who had been sentenced in September 2021 by the Coutances Criminal Court for having used a pesticide banned in France since 2018 have been retried since yesterday by the Correctional Appeals Chamber of the Caen Court of Appeal.

An investigation with “excessive means”

In the first place, eleven defendants had been sentenced : the market gardeners had been fined from 8,000 to 80,000 euros according to their turnover, the carrier a fine of €30,000 and the intermediary who ordered the products in Spain from a fine of €50,000.

The agricultural work company which spread the product “at night”, according to the prosecution, and which issued false pruning invoices to cover its services, had been sentenced to €10,000 to amend.

At the origin of the case, there had been an “anonymous denunciation” and an “unexpected control” by the National Brigade for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Investigations (BNEVP) on these practices intended to eliminate a worm which threatened production.

Yesterday, before the debates opened for three days, the Caen judges considered the formal arguments of the farmers’ lawyers: they should “hear witnesses”.

To “hear witnesses”

They also suggested that the “partiality” of these investigators and the Coutances prosecution be recognized: the qualification of “organized band” had allowed a “sprawling judicial investigation” where some “20,000 conversations had been intercepted”. “Geolocations” and “searches without consent” had also been made in this context.

Problem: according to them, the qualification of “organized band” could not be retained insofar as dichloropropene was a product which had been put on sale on the French market before being withdrawn.

So many “excessive” means, according to the lawyers, who also regret the “conditions of their police custody” or even a “breach of the secrecy of the investigation”: journalists working with TF1 were present during the police custody.

For his part, the lawyer from Manche Nature – one of the environmental defense associations which have become civil parties – argued “on the contrary” that these means were “adapted” to the nature of the case. .

As for the qualification retained, the lawyer demonstrated that it was justified insofar as the mis en cause formed a “maturely thought out organization”. “A network has been created to obtain this substance and use it,” she insisted.

A “maturely thought out” organization

“For a very long time, the climate has not been absolutely calm in the Channel with regard to the ban on dichloropropene… The analyzes carried out in the rivers of the Channel are not misleading”, further underlined the lawyer from Manche Nature.

Returning to the presence of journalists during police custody, the Advocate General will appear for his part that this will not be “not a nullity of public order”. He also dismissed the charges of “collusion”, “ploys” and “mistakes” put forward by the defense. The Caen Court of Appeal agreed with him: it rejected the motions for nullity. The examination of the case will therefore continue until Wednesday.

Was this article helpful to you? Know that you can follow La Presse de la Manche in space My News . In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.