I'm completely at a loss how the first reaction of our conspiracy brigade (not only you) can be total denial of the most basic and easily determinable findings of the FDR i.e. sidestick position???
Well, The FDR really tells us nothing about
sidestick position - you need a camera for that - it only tells us about the
sidestick command. A sidestick failure, giving pitch up commands regardless of stick position is a (slim) possibility. The actual FDR graph of stick command would show if it is a possible culprit though - and as it has not been mentioned (and it would by now) you can discount it.