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I despise anonymous internet rumours, Bruni-Sarkozy says

Mar 26, 2010, 14:36 GMT

French president Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrive at the Jean de la Fontaine high school to cast their vote in the French regional elections, in Paris, France, 21 March 2010. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

Paris - Rumours spread anonymously over the internet are an abuse of democracy, France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was quoted as saying Friday - her first public response to recent widespread reports that she and her husband had taken lovers.

'Rumours are part of human nature,' she said in an interview with the magazine of the daily Le Figaro. 'But I despise those which originate on an internet blog and are signed Mickey Mouse or Superman.

'I also despise so-called journalists who use blogs as credible sources,' she added. 'The fact that they repeat and propagate a rumour without basis in fact, started by an anonymous source, seems to me an abuse of democracy.'

The online daily MediaPart reported Friday that two workers at a company running the website for the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) were sacked for their part in spreading the rumour.

The two Newsweb employees were fired Monday after being found responsible for posting a blog, allegedly by an anonymous author, that detailed Sarkozys' rumoured infidelities on the JDD website.

The rumour was soon picked up by media and bloggers around the world, with the JDD often cited as its source, giving the allegations the appearance of fact.

As a result, Sarkozy was forced into an angry denial at a London press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier this month.

According to MediaPart, the author of the blog was none other than Newsweb's director of marketing. He apparently based his information on a Twitter message by French online journalist Aude Baron, which started the rumour mill.

Baron said she had merely reported rumours she herself had heard and did not check their accuracy.

'It was kind of a joke,' she was quoted as saying.