Clairvaux Prison
Clairvaux Prison is a high-security prison in France, on the site of the former Clairvaux Abbey.
1971 revolt
In this prison in 1971, convicts Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems took Nicole Comte, a nurse, and Guy Girardot, a prison guard, hostage, and Buffet subsequently murdered them. Buffet and Bontems were captured. Bontems, whose defence counsel included Robert Badinter, contended that the murder was Buffet's idea.
Buffet affirmed that he desired death. Both were sentenced to death by the "assises" court in June 1972 and were guillotined.[1]
2006 manifesto
On 16 January 2006, several detainees serving life sentences in Clairvaux Prison, and having all spent from 6 to 28 years in prison, signed a manifesto denouncing a "false" abolition of the death penalty, which they deem to have been transformed into a slow and continuous punishment. The convicts specifically denounce the French Republic which claimed, in accordance with the "advises of the European Council", that the "enforcing of prison sentences... has been conceived not only in order to protect society and assure the punishment of the convict, but also to favour his amendement and prepare his rehabilitation". They state that "In reality: everything is for the punishment."[2]
Notable prisoners
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (also known as Carlos the Jackal) is currently serving his life sentence here. The anarchist Peter Kropotkin was also imprisoned in Clairvaux for the five years between 1882 and 1886.
Notes
- ↑ Guillotine.dk - Names Related to the guillotine (accessed 28/01/2009)
- ↑ "Des perpétuités de Clairvaux : '... nous en appelons au rétablissement effectif de la peine de mort pour nous'". Hacktivist New Service. 2006-01-16.
See also
Sources
- (French) Clairvaux Prison - Ministry of Justice
Coordinates: 48°08′47″N 4°47′20″E / 48.1464°N 4.7888°E