MEP Maxette Pirbakas, the only woman in the European Parliament who is black, of Indian origin and from a farming background, has denounced a discriminatory attack on her. Here is her statement:
“I have read the article about me published today in Mediapart. Even more than the method, which consists of writing horrors about me without even giving me the opportunity to respond, I am outraged by the general tone of the article, which is nothing less than a full-scale attack.
I note that Mr Rouget was also careful not to try to contact my lawyer, who he knows perfectly well is Frédéric Jean-Marie. But the aim of the article was not to establish the facts, but to destabilise me, if not smear me.
Mr Rouget wrote his article under the dictation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, from which he draws most of his information (exclusively incriminating). This extra-judicial offensive is motivated by the frustration of the public prosecutor who, not having my email address, was unable to summon me before the European elections on 9 June. By becoming the armed wing of such a low-level judicial operation, Mr Rouget is not honouring his profession. As for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, such a low blow is clearly an attack on democratic rules.
I strongly reject the accusations made in the article, which are a mixture of personal vengeance on the part of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, unfounded accusations that I will have no difficulty in debunking, and gossip from disillusioned former friends and family.
I authorise my lawyer, Mr Jean-Marie, to answer questions from journalists, if they deign to ask them. If Mr Rouget and Médiapart refuse to get in touch with him, they will be signing their forfeit.
Finally, I’d like to point out that the article is quite right to describe me as a political UFO. I am a woman. I am black. I come from a farming background, I have dirt under my shoes. I’m not an heiress. I don’t belong to any elite. I didn’t lie down or huckster to get elected. I got where I am by dint of hard work and selfless service to my compatriots. The people of overseas France know this. The farmers and fishermen of the French overseas departments know it. I am free, proud and I hold my head high.
The dogs bark, the caravan passes”.
Maxette Pirbakas
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