French weekly magazines review

Big names sign against Bashar al Assad. But what to do with the petition? Gangsters become more sophisticated and so do the police. Le Pen's halal claim debunked. And dirty tricks in Russia.

The editorial in Le Nouvel Observateur, boasts of having collected the signatures of several leading politicians, including party leaders, for a petition condemning Bashar al-Assad.

The petition, which is published alongside the editorial, calls for an end to the bombing, torture and persecution of the civilian population. As well as unimpeded access for humanitarian organisations and the media.

Editor Laurent Joffrin says that the beauty of journalism is being able to help raise awareness of the plight of the wretched of the earth, unlike Western diplomats, who he says, all too often prefer to stay within the confines of their golden palaces.

And what exactly does the magazine plan to do with its petition?

That’s not revealed in the editorial. Instead readers are informed there will be a meeting at an unspecified place or date with no agenda, arranged by Nouvel Obs.

Le Point has a series of articles focusing on crime. One in particular caught my eye, about new organised crime networks operating in France.

The journalist seeks to find out how the godfathers of the 21st century go about their business.

The article starts out by saying that because of ever-more sophisticated policing – DNA, CCTV and hidden cameras and the like – 21st century godfathers have to be a mix of secret agent and commando.

The French mafia bosses have apparently gone into retirement, to be replaced by various criminal gangs made up of foreigners. The main culprits, the article says, are:

• Moroccan cannibis smugglers;
• West African cyberfraudsters;
• Pakistani VAT scammers;
• Mongolian and Chinese shoplifters;
• Irish gypsies trading in rhino horns, among other things.

Long gone are the days when criminal bosses stashed their ill-gotten gains under the floorboards. Today, Le Point suggests, they invest their profits on financial markets, the food industry and even environmentally oriented businesses.

That’s not to say the perpetrators of organised crime have gone soft, far from it. They’ve just become more sophisticated.

The leader of the far-right Front National, Marine Le Pen, has stirred up a debate about halal meat in recent weeks. And Le Figaro Magazine has reacted by publishing an article on the issue.

They interview a researcher with the Institute of Reseach for the Arab World and Islam, who refutes Le Pen's claim that all meat in Paris is either halal or has passed through distribution centres handling halal meat.

The researcher is quoted as saying that halal meat represents only two per cent of the production of abattoirs nationally. This nowhere near satisfies the demand of Paris's Muslim population. And so most halal meat has to be imported.

The article also looks at the growing market for alcohol-free halal drinks and refined French food, such as foie gras.

L’Express has a feature about the dirty tactics being used, it says, to discredit the opposition in Russia.

The magazine reports that manipulating photographs and videos of opposition leaders is commonplace.

The feature leads with two sets of very similar photos. But look closer and foul play becomes clear.

The first set shows Mikhail Prokhorov an opposition presidential candidate standing next to a leading Russian anti-corruption lawyer. This, L’Express says, is the original photo.

Next to it is a manipulated photo, in which Prokhorov is next to Boris Berezovzki, an oligarch living in exile who symbolises flamboyance and wealth.

This is apparently an attempt by supporters of Putin to convince the electorate that Prokhorov is a puppet of the super-rich.

The article also draws a parallell with the Soviet era when similar tactics were used. But of course in those times the issue wasn’t the opposition but rather political dissidents.