Jean Bastien-Thiry
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| Jean Bastien-Thiry | |
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| Born | October 19, 1927 Lunéville, France |
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| Died | March 11, 1963 (aged 35) Ivry-sur-Seine, France |
| Occupation | EngineerAir Force lieutenant-colonel |
| Spouse | Geneviève, dead in 1989 |
| Children | three daughters |
Jean Bastien-Thiry (October 19, 1927 – March 11, 1963) was a French military air weaponry engineer who attempted to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle on August 22, 1962, to try to prevent Algerian independence.
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[edit] Life
Bastien-Thiry was born to a family of Catholic military officers in Lunéville. His father had known De Gaulle in the 1930s and was a member of the Gaullist RPF. He attended the École Polytechnique, followed by the École nationale supérieure de l'Aéronautique before going into the French Air Force where he specialized in the design of air-to-air missiles. In 1957 he was promoted to become principal air military engineer. He was married to and had three daughters with the daughter of Georges Lamirand (who was Vichy régime Minister of Youth until 1942).
[edit] Assassination attempt
After his return to power intending to maintain Algeria as part of France, De Gaulle made a sudden reversal of policy in September 1959 and gradually opted instead for the secession of Algeria. As a consequence of this new policy that most military officers and even several of De Gaulle's close associates did not agree with, two referendums on self-determination were held. The first in 1961 and a second on April 8 1962, the French Évian Accords referendum, 1962 (actually French Government Statements - ref : conseil constitutionnel decisions [1] - since there were no agreements, the FLN having refused to sign them off) which was not in accord with the French constitution (article. 3) as citizens living in Algeria were barred from this referendum.
Bastien-Thiry, who was involved with a still mysterious organization (Vieil Etat Major, which was probably supported by high-ranking officials, politicians and the heads of large companies), cooperated with men of Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) which was already carrying out assassinations and bombings to try to prevent Algerian independence. Bastien-Thiry was not, however, actually a member of the OAS organization.
Bastien-Thiry led the most prominent assassination attempt against De Gaulle. The group set themselves up in the Paris suburb of Petit-Clamart on August 22, 1962. De Gaulle's car, an unarmoured Citroën DS, and nearby shops were raked with machine gun fire but de Gaulle, along with his wife and entourage, were able to escape without injury. After the attempt, some fourteen bullet holes were found in the president's vehicle, with another twenty striking the nearby Café Trianon, and an additional one-hundred-eighty-seven found on the pavement. This event was fictionalized (basically) in the 1973 film The Day of the Jackal. De Gaulle credited the unusual abilities of the DS vehicle with saving his life — the shots had punctured two of the tires, but the car was still able to escape at full speed.
[edit] Arrest and trial
Bastien-Thiry was arrested when he came back from a mission in the United Kingdom. He was brought to trial before a military tribunal presided over by General Roger Gardet from January 28 to March 4, 1963. He was defended by a legal team consisting of attorneys Jacques Isorni, Richard Dupuy, Bernard Le Coroller, and Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour who would be a far-right candidate for the presidential election in 1965. While claiming that the death of de Gaulle would have been justified by the "genocide" of the European population of newly-independent Algeria, he claimed that while the other conspirators may have admittedly been trying to kill the head of state, he had only been attempting to capture de Gaulle so as to deliver him to a panel of sympathetic judges. Bastien-Thiry, who had been certified as "normal" by psychiatrists in spite of an history of clinical depression, was convicted and sentenced to death.
De Gaulle as President of France had the power of clemency. He pardoned those who fired the shots, but refused to pardon Bastien-Thiry despite an appeal from Bastien-Thiry's father to spare his son's life. The president had before the trial expressed his intention to grant clemency to Bastien-Thiry, saying the "idiot" would "get off with twenty years and in five years I'll free him" (Lacouture, 328). However, according to his son-in-law Alain de Bossieu, after the conspirator's conviction, de Gaulle stated four reasons for refusing to alter the sentence. First, Bastien-Thiry had directed his subordinates to fire on a car in which there was an innocent woman present (Madame Yvonne de Gaulle). Secondly, he had endangered civilians, namely the Fillon family, who had been traveling in a car near that carrying de Gaulle. Thirdly, he had brought foreigners, specifically three Hungarians, into the plot. And finally, and most serious in de Gaulle's eyes, while the other conspirators did the actual firing and had thus placed themselves in some danger, Bastien-Thiry had only directed events from afar, acting as a lookout for the gunmen.
Another thesis [1]is that De Gaulle was very angry after Bastien-Thiry made his February 2 1963 statement, a virulent attack in which Bastien denies De Gaulle's legitimacy, speaking about him as the Head of de facto State. Moreover Bastien-Thiry's statement was well argued, showing he had a strong political potential. Knowing he would eventually pardon his opponents and release them, De Gaulle possibly saw in Bastien-Thiry a dangerous enemy once freed.
The execution took place only one week after the trial, which was unusual. Probably the biggest security plan in French judicial history was organized to take Bastien-Thiry from his cell to the place of his execution[2]. There were 2000 policemen posted along the way and 35 vehicles used. The government feared an escape was planned and there had been a plan but it was abandoned. Paradoxically the police plan was headed by former De Gaulle's close security officer Jean Cantelaube. He has been recently identified as an intelligence agent who provided information to Bastien-Thiry's organization{[3].
Jean Bastien-Thiry was executed by firing squad at military fortress of Ivry-sur-Seine on March 11, 1963, while clutching his rosary. He refused to be blindfolded.
About Bastien-Thiry, de Gaulle said "The French need martyrs... They must choose them carefully. I could have given them one of those idiotic generals playing ball in Tulle prison. I gave them Bastien-Thiry. They'll be able to make a martyr of him. He deserves it." (Lacouture, 329).
1 : Petit-Clamart accused lawyers
2 : Bastien-Thiry by Jean-Pax Meffret
3 : Cantelaube's notes quoted in Jean-Pax Meffret's book ; attempt accomplice interwiewed by Olivier Cazeaux}
[edit] References
- Lacouture, Jean. De Gaulle: The Ruler 1945-1970. Alan Sheridan, trans. New York: W.W. Norton, 1991. ISBN 0-393-03084-9 pp. 324-9
- Venner, Dominique. De Gaulle: La Grandeur et le Néant (Splendor and Nothingness) Editions du Rocher, 2004 ISBN 2-268-05202-8
- Soustelle, Jacques. L'Espérance Trahie (Broken Hope) Editions de l'Alma, 1962
