FR

Valérie Murat is an activist from Bordeaux who is also a spokesperson of the non-profit organization Alerte Aux Toxiques (Alerte Aux Toxiques). Together they have been denouncing the effects of synthetic pesticides used in the Gironde wine industry for nearly 10 years. However, they are now being sued by the Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bordeaux (CIVB) and the Bordeaux wine industry for having exercised their activism too well.

For several months, Valérie Murat has been analyzing 22 wines with the High Environmental Value (HVE) label. On September 15, she published the result of her work where she found the presence of pesticide residues in each of the bottles. From this report, Valérie shows that it could be misleading for consumers since the HVE label doesn’t present clear distinctions from organic viticulture.

By having their backs to the wall, the wine industry, rather than mobilizing to improve the image of Bordeaux wines by getting rid of synthetic pesticides, sued Valérie Murat and the association Alerte Aux Toxiques! for "collective denigration of the Bordeaux wine industry".

It must be said that the representatives of the wine industry, several of whom have recently been convicted, know their way around the court. With catastrophic sales figures, and the problem of pesticides in which they are buried, they saw Valérie Murat as the scapegoat likely to take responsibility for their own failings.

Strengthened by their feeling of power and control, faced with Valérie Murat, a volunteer whistleblower, who is also a precarious worker, the CIVB and Bordeaux wines are claiming exorbitant sums, including €100,000 for the damage they supposedly suffered. These staggering sums demonstrate a willingness to intimidate any attempt to make a dissident voice being heard.

This attitude on the part of the CIVB and Bordeaux wines is an attack on freedom of association, freedom of expression, the right to information as well as public health, and is indeed beyond all comprehension. The very people who are bringing these lawsuits refuse to inform the public in advance on how the vines are treated, expose children to synthetic pesticides, refuse, despite a legal obligation, to provide vineyard workers with a list of products to which they are exposed, and exploit their staff in sometimes inhumane working conditions.

Whether we are activists or simple citizens, this behavior affects us all.

By being the daughter of James Bernard Murat, a winegrower who died of a cancer recognized as an occupational disease linked to synthetic pesticides, Valérie Murat has since been on all fronts of the fight against pesticides. From protecting the exposed workers via, for example, the White Cross operation (Opération Croix Blanches), providing a treatment schedule without Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, Reprotoxic pesticides to the same professionals (Action Zéro CMR) who are now attacking her, to protecting exposed populations (Letter to the Prefect).

All of Valerie Murat’s actions are always being taken based on her analyses and done for the common good. She informs us about the dangers of synthetic pesticides and guides our consumption.

In these times when freedom of expression and the right to criticism are so fragile, no financial power can get the better of whistleblowers, who are essential to any democratic society. This is why, by signing this petition, we support Valérie Murat and the association Alerte Aux Toxiques ! and demand the withdrawal of the CIVB's complaint as well as of all the plaintiffs against them.

To support Valérie Murat and the association Alerte Aux Toxiques financially, go to the online kitty: https://gofund.me/b1367269