Excited scenes marked the resumption today of the trial of Francois Coty, perfume manufacturer and newspaper publisher, on charges of libeling Jewish war veterans. Coty is accused by the Union of Jewish Ex-Soldiers of stating that the veterans’ organization and Jewish sports organizations were merely disguised revolutionary bodies. The accusation was made in articles appearing in Coty’s paper, L’Ami du Peuple.
Jeers and cat-calls were heard in the court-room when Coty denied that he was anti-Semitic and asserted that he was opposed only to communists, anarchists and international financiers, but respected conservative Jews. The presiding judge had to threaten to clear the courtroom repeatedly as a result of the vent given the excited feelings of the spectators. The trial was postponed until June 29.
The case has aroused much attention since it marks the first time that Coty has been taken into court in connection with the inciting articles appearing in his two papers, L’Ami du Peuple and Figaro. On June 1, when the case came to trial only to be postponed because of the illness of Coty, it was stated by his attorney that the statements in the papers did not refer to the combatants but only to irresponsible groups.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
