Sarkozy wins voodoo doll appeal - sort of

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the latest (and possibly final) chapter in the Nicolas Sarkozy Voodoo doll saga, here it is.

He has won his appeal - sort of. Only partially mind you, because the thing will remain on sale, but only if it meets certain conditions.

That was the decision on Friday of an appeals court in Paris, which after a couple of weeks of "reflection" decided that the doll "was insulting to the image" of the French president - a claim he had always made in his attempts to have it withdrawn from circulation.

But at the same time the court refused to ban the doll outright. Instead it said that the manufacturer, Tear Prod, could continue selling it as long as the packaging contained a mention of the court's decision.

Once again, just in case you missed the story first - or even second time around - here's the briefest of recaps.

Full blow-by-blow details can be found here and here.

The doll in question is an effigy of the French president (co-incidentally it's "made in China" which could seem rather ironic to some given Sarkozy's recent problems with Beijing over his decision to meet finally Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama next month - but that's another story) and comes as part of a kit, complete with 12 needles and an instruction manual that quite literally invites the user to "pinpoint" exactly which elements of Sarkozy's policies or character they dislike most.

It originally went on sale on October 9 along, with a similar one representing Ségolène Royal, the defeated Socialist party candidate in last year's presidential election. (20,000 Sarkozy dolls and 15,000 Royal).

Sarkozy, took offence, and through his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, requested that the company which had manufactured and distributed the doll, withdraw it from circulation or risk legal action for "misuse of the president's image".

When the company refused, the case went to court - just one of six civil suits Sarkozy has brought during 18 months in office.

Sarkozy "lost" with the court deciding that the doll "neither constituted an affront on the human dignity (of the president) nor a personal attack," as his lawyer had claimed, and it remained on sale.

A couple of weeks later the case was back in court - this time on appeal - with Herzog arguing once again that the company didn't have the right to use Sarkozy's image and that users might somehow think that by sticking pins into the doll they were actually practising voodoo.

On Friday, the appeals court came through with its ruling.

Yes the doll "constitutes an offence to the dignity" of Sarkozy, but no, a complete ban on its sale would be both "inappropriate and disproportionate".

So it can remain on sale, but the manufacturers must include a mention within the packaging of the court's ruling.

As far as Herzog was concerned , the verdict was one that justified having taken the case to court in the first place.

"I"m completely happy," he said afterwards.

"And there's no regret in having appealed the original decision."

So there you go, a week in this country which has seen the end of two "sagas" from different parts of the political spectrum - just for the sake of balance.

From the centre-right, Sarkozy's voodoo doll "victory" of sorts and from the left of course the battle for the leadership of the country's Socialist party.

Somehow though, with Sarkozy's penchant for civil suits (six during 18 months in office - far more than any other French president in recent history) and Ségolène Royal all but "declaring" herself as a candidate for the Socialist party's presidential nomination in 2012, what's the betting that one or other could be back in the headlines with a similar story in the near future?