Christophe Grébert

About Christophe Grébert

Christophe Grébert is originally from Senlis. He is a French blogger and journalist, known for opposing the mayors of Puteaux, Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud, and then Joëlle Ceccaldi-Raynaud. In March 2008, he ran in the municipal election and was elected councilor of Puteaux.

Christophe Grébert launched the blog MonPuteaux.com on May 1, 2002. This blog criticizes the policies implemented by the RPR majority. Mayor Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud then prevents him from attending municipal council meetings by placing municipal employees in front of the City Hall door to deny him access.

In 2004, the municipality of Puteaux filed a defamation complaint against Christophe Grébert. On his blog, he implied that a municipal employee was dismissed because she had reported questionable conditions regarding the awarding of a public contract. In March 2006, after two years of proceedings, the blogger was acquitted by the 17th chamber of the Paris correctional court, which handles press cases. The municipality appealed, and a new trial took place on April 25, 2007, before the 11th chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal. The ruling of June 6, 2007, confirmed the acquittal based on the blogger’s good faith. This case was widely discussed in the blogosphere, as well as by traditional media, popularizing the phenomenon of local blogs or so-called “citizen blogs” in France.

In September 2006, Joëlle Ceccaldi-Raynaud (then mayor of Puteaux) and Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud were convicted by the 14th correctional chamber of the Nanterre court for homophobic defamation against Christophe Grébert, for insinuating on the official municipal website that the blogger had “pedophilic tendencies.” Joëlle and Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud were each ordered to pay 2,500 euros in fines and jointly 3,000 euros in damages to the blogger. They were also ordered to publish a judicial statement on the municipal website, as well as in Le Parisien. This conviction was confirmed by a ruling from the Versailles Court of Appeal on April 26, 2007. Other complaints were also filed against the blogger, notably by municipal police officers. This led Christophe Grébert to create, with other local bloggers, a group to defend freedom of expression on the web: Webcitoyen.com.

From 2002 to 2007, he was a member of the Socialist Party. He belonged to the Socialism and Democracy faction of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He left the PS the day after the 2007 presidential election. In 2008, he joined the Democratic Movement of François Bayrou. In November 2010, he was appointed spokesperson for MoDem in Hauts-de-Seine.

In 2009, he initiated a petition asking Jean Sarkozy to renounce the presidency of the EPAD (Public Establishment for the Development of La Défense). This petition gathered nearly 100,000 signatures. In 2010, he became president of the Ma Défense association, which brings together democratic elected officials from the 6 municipalities of the La Défense business district.

On May 30, 2007, he announced his candidacy for the municipal election of Puteaux in March 2008. He opened a blog inviting the residents of his city to participate in drafting his “citizen” project. His list, named “Puteaux together,” received support from MoDem and the Greens. It included non-partisan citizens, as well as activists from MoDem, the Greens, some from the PS, a dissident UMP member of the local majority, and a member of the CNI. On March 16, 2008, the non-partisan list obtained 25.37% of the votes. Christophe Grébert was elected municipal councilor along with 4 of his running mates. He has since continued his local action within the municipal opposition. He ran in the cantonal election in March 2011 for the Puteaux canton, under the MoDem label. In the first round, he received 16.82% of the votes and qualified for the second round against the UMP candidate, Vincent Franchi, son of the deputy-mayor of the city, Joëlle Ceccaldi-Raynaud, and grandson of Charles Ceccaldi-Raynaud, the outgoing general councilor. In the second round, the PS, the PRG, and Europe Ecology/The Greens supported Christophe Grébert. He received 47.7% of the votes.