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Man finds 'own amputation' on cigarette packets without consent | |
(about 8 hours later) | |
A 60-year-old man in eastern France says he was stunned to discover that a picture of his amputated leg had been used on cigarette packets, as a warning against smoking, without his consent. | A 60-year-old man in eastern France says he was stunned to discover that a picture of his amputated leg had been used on cigarette packets, as a warning against smoking, without his consent. |
The picture was displayed alongside the message "smoking clogs your arteries". | |
But the Albanian man, who lives in Metz, says he lost his leg as the result of a 1997 shooting in Albania. | But the Albanian man, who lives in Metz, says he lost his leg as the result of a 1997 shooting in Albania. |
The European Commission, which is responsible for the distribution of such images, says the man is mistaken. | |
The man's son discovered the picture - which bore recognisable burns and scars - when he bought a packet of rolling tobacco last year in Luxembourg, French media report. | |
He brought the packet home to his family. | He brought the packet home to his family. |
"He [my brother] was coming back from Luxembourg. Without saying a word, he put a big box of rolling tobacco on the table," the man's daughter told regional newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain. | |
"We were stunned. We did not believe it." | "We were stunned. We did not believe it." |
The family thought it was indeed a picture of the father's leg. | The family thought it was indeed a picture of the father's leg. |
"It's our father's. His scars are characteristic," the daughter added. | "It's our father's. His scars are characteristic," the daughter added. |
The man, who has not been named, says he had never agreed to the picture being used. He believes it was taken at a local hospital he visited in 2018 to find out whether he could be fitted with some kind of walking apparatus. | |
He has been walking using crutches for more than 20 years following a shooting incident in Albania in 1997, in which he lost his leg. | He has been walking using crutches for more than 20 years following a shooting incident in Albania in 1997, in which he lost his leg. |
'Betrayed' | 'Betrayed' |
The family's lawyer, Antoine Fittante, is also adamant that the picture is of his client's leg. | |
"Each scar is specific, unique. This man also has burn marks on the other leg, it's very clear. An expert will have no trouble identifying the image. | "Each scar is specific, unique. This man also has burn marks on the other leg, it's very clear. An expert will have no trouble identifying the image. |
"It's rather incredible that a person finds themselves without their agreement on cigarette packets throughout the European Union," Mr Fittante said. | "It's rather incredible that a person finds themselves without their agreement on cigarette packets throughout the European Union," Mr Fittante said. |
"My client feels betrayed, wounded in his dignity, by seeing his disability [displayed] on cigarette packets in tobacconists; one must admit that's not very pleasant." | "My client feels betrayed, wounded in his dignity, by seeing his disability [displayed] on cigarette packets in tobacconists; one must admit that's not very pleasant." |
Mr Fittante has written to the hospital to find out how the photos ended up being used. | |
Le Parisien newspaper, however, cast doubt on the claim by showing the same photograph in a collection used for an EU anti-tobacco campaign dated 2017 - before the man's visit to the Metz hospital. It also appears in an EU image database from 2014. | |
The newspaper also said it had contacted the hospital, which could not confirm the man's story. | |
"We have the identity, the agreement and the rights for all the people photographed for this campaign," a European Commission spokeswomen said, quoted by Le Parisien. | |
"From the information we have, we can say without a doubt that this individual is not one of them." |