Jean-Louis Nicot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean-Louis Nicot (February 14, 1911 - August 29, 2004) was the commander of the French Air transport fleet during the First Indochina War. He was later sent to prison for his complicity in the Algiers putsch.

Nicot graduated from École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr and entered the French Air Force. He moved up through the ranks until he reached lieutenant-general, functioning as second in command of the Air Force.

It was at this time that the Algiers putsch occurred on April 23, 1961. Nicot was implicated through a subordinate, as having delayed the transmission of certain orders at the time of the French counter-offensive, as well as having aided the secret transfer of Algeria by Generals Maurice Challe and André Zeller.

General Nicot was tried in front of the High military tribunal, and convicted on June 19, 1961, for the crime collusion "with the chiefs of an insurrectionary movement". He was sentenced to twelve years detention (the charge carried a possible sentence of twenty years).

Nicot was released in 1965. Later, he was reinstated to the reserves in November 1982, following the adoption of a bill "relating to the payment of certain consequences of the events of North Africa" (whose goal it was to rehabilitate 800 officers, 800 police and and 400 civil administrators returned to public office between 1961 and 1963, excepting the eight Generals putschists driven out of the reserve).

General Nicot accumulated 4500 hours of flight time throughout his career.