Bernard Bonnet: Difference between revisions
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== Prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales == |
== Prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales == |
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Bernard Bonnet was named as prefect of the [[Pyrénées-Orientales]] in 1993 by [[Charles Pasqua]]. He was strongly opposed to expressions of [[catalanism]] in the [[Départements of France|''département'']], including the public use of the [[Catalan language]], and his time in [[Perpignan]] has been described as "five years of absolute rule by a super-prefect"<ref>{{cite web |
Bernard Bonnet was named as prefect of the [[Pyrénées-Orientales]] in 1993 by [[Charles Pasqua]]. He was strongly opposed to expressions of [[catalanism]] in the [[Départements of France|''département'']], including the public use of the [[Catalan language]], and his time in [[Perpignan]] has been described as "five years of absolute rule by a super-prefect"<ref>{{cite web|title=Bernard Bonnet: un préfet chez les catalans |url=http://www.llibreriacatalana.com/pages/livres_f_bonnet.htm |publisher=Llibreria catalana |accessdate=2007-04-03 |language=French |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224170024/http://www.llibreriacatalana.com:80/pages/livres_f_bonnet.htm |archivedate=2007-02-24 |df= }}.</ref> in the pseudonymous book ''Bernard Bonnet, un préfet chez les Catalans''<ref>{{Citation |title=Bernard Bonnet, un préfet chez les Catalans |first=Marc |last=Duran | publisher=Éditions de la tempête |year=2000}}</ref> After his departure for Corsica, a fake death notice appeared in Catalan in ''[[L'Indépendant (Pyrénées-Orientales)|L'Indépendant]]'', the main local newspaper in Perpignan.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} |
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== Prefect of Corsica == |
== Prefect of Corsica == |
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Bernard Bonnet's career came to an abrupt end in 1999 with the "affair of the beach huts" ({{lang-fr|affaire des paillotes}}). On the night of 19–20 April 1999, two illegally constructed beach restaurants were destroyed in an [[arson]] attack at Cala d'Orzo, south of [[Ajaccio]]. Bonnet initially suggested that the attack was a result of a disagreement between armed separatist groups (a common occurrence in Corsica at the time), but the police investigation quickly indicated that the fire had been started by a group of [[Gendarmerie|gendarme]]s from the elite ''Groupe de peloton de sécurité'' (GPS).<ref>{{citation |first=Lionel |last=Venturini |title=Un "Rainbow paillotes" en Corse |url=http://www.humanite.fr/journal/1999-04-30/1999-04-30-288743 |newspaper=[[L'Humanité]] |date=1999-04-30 |language=French |format=}} {{dead link|date=July 2010}}.</ref> A [[walkie-talkie]], a compass, a blood-stained balaclava and several [[jerrycan]]s which had contained petrol were discovered buried in the sand of the beach on 23 April, while a badly-burned patient had been anonymously admitted to the [[Rangueil University Hospital]] in [[Toulouse]], transferred from the neighbouring military hospital.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} |
Bernard Bonnet's career came to an abrupt end in 1999 with the "affair of the beach huts" ({{lang-fr|affaire des paillotes}}). On the night of 19–20 April 1999, two illegally constructed beach restaurants were destroyed in an [[arson]] attack at Cala d'Orzo, south of [[Ajaccio]]. Bonnet initially suggested that the attack was a result of a disagreement between armed separatist groups (a common occurrence in Corsica at the time), but the police investigation quickly indicated that the fire had been started by a group of [[Gendarmerie|gendarme]]s from the elite ''Groupe de peloton de sécurité'' (GPS).<ref>{{citation |first=Lionel |last=Venturini |title=Un "Rainbow paillotes" en Corse |url=http://www.humanite.fr/journal/1999-04-30/1999-04-30-288743 |newspaper=[[L'Humanité]] |date=1999-04-30 |language=French |format=}} {{dead link|date=July 2010}}.</ref> A [[walkie-talkie]], a compass, a blood-stained balaclava and several [[jerrycan]]s which had contained petrol were discovered buried in the sand of the beach on 23 April, while a badly-burned patient had been anonymously admitted to the [[Rangueil University Hospital]] in [[Toulouse]], transferred from the neighbouring military hospital.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} |
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Bonnet was arrested on 3 May and flown to Paris for questioning:<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Tylor |title=Police and senior government officials implicated in arson attack |publisher=World Socialist Web Site |date=1999-05-24 |url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/cors-m24.shtml}}.</ref> he was [[Detention of suspects|held in prison on remand (''détention préventive'')]] for two months. After a trial in Ajaccio, he was found guilty of conspiracy to arson (''complicité de destruction de biens appartenant à autrui par l'effet d'un incendie'') on 10 January 2002 and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, two of which were [[Suspended sentence|suspended]], and three years deprivation of his [[civil rights]] (''privation des droits civiques'').<ref>{{cite news |
Bonnet was arrested on 3 May and flown to Paris for questioning:<ref>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Tylor |title=Police and senior government officials implicated in arson attack |publisher=World Socialist Web Site |date=1999-05-24 |url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/cors-m24.shtml}}.</ref> he was [[Detention of suspects|held in prison on remand (''détention préventive'')]] for two months. After a trial in Ajaccio, he was found guilty of conspiracy to arson (''complicité de destruction de biens appartenant à autrui par l'effet d'un incendie'') on 10 January 2002 and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, two of which were [[Suspended sentence|suspended]], and three years deprivation of his [[civil rights]] (''privation des droits civiques'').<ref>{{cite news|title=Corsica ex-governor guity of arson |date=2002-01-11 |publisher=CNN |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/11/corsica.bonnet/index.html |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711124258/http://archives.cnn.com:80/2002/WORLD/europe/01/11/corsica.bonnet/index.html |archivedate=2007-07-11 |df= }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Paillotes : prison ferme pour le préfet Bonnet |date=2002-01-11 |newspaper=[[Le Figaro]]}}.</ref> |
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Bonnet appealed against his conviction, first to the Court of Appeal in [[Bastia]], which rejected the appeal on 15 January 2003, and then to the [[Court of Cassation (France)|Court of Cassation]], France's highest court, which rejected his petition on 13 October 2004.<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/Visu?cid=127408&indice=1&table=CASS&ligneDeb=1 ''Bulletin criminel'' 2004 N° 243, p. 885 (Petition no. 03-81763)].</ref> His request for a [[Presidential pardon]] was rejected by [[Jacques Chirac]] in March 2005.<ref>{{citation |first=Geoffroy |last=Tomasovitch |newspaper=[[Le Parisien]] |date=2005-03-12}}.</ref> Nevertheless, Bonnet never returned to prison as he was granted [[probation]] (''liberté conditionnelle'') by a Paris judge on 9 June 2006, a decision confirmed on appeal on 12 October 2006.<ref>{{citation |first=Stéphane |last=Durand-Souffland |title=Le préfet Bonnet reste en liberté conditionnelle |newspaper=[[Le Figaro]] |date=2006-10-13 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20061012.WWW000000315_lancien_prefet_bonnet_en_liberte_conditionnelle.html}}.</ref> Neither was he ever sacked from the civil service: he was suspended after his arrest in May 1999, and retired on a normal pension in October 2006. |
Bonnet appealed against his conviction, first to the Court of Appeal in [[Bastia]], which rejected the appeal on 15 January 2003, and then to the [[Court of Cassation (France)|Court of Cassation]], France's highest court, which rejected his petition on 13 October 2004.<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/Visu?cid=127408&indice=1&table=CASS&ligneDeb=1 ''Bulletin criminel'' 2004 N° 243, p. 885 (Petition no. 03-81763)].</ref> His request for a [[Presidential pardon]] was rejected by [[Jacques Chirac]] in March 2005.<ref>{{citation |first=Geoffroy |last=Tomasovitch |newspaper=[[Le Parisien]] |date=2005-03-12}}.</ref> Nevertheless, Bonnet never returned to prison as he was granted [[probation]] (''liberté conditionnelle'') by a Paris judge on 9 June 2006, a decision confirmed on appeal on 12 October 2006.<ref>{{citation |first=Stéphane |last=Durand-Souffland |title=Le préfet Bonnet reste en liberté conditionnelle |newspaper=[[Le Figaro]] |date=2006-10-13 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20061012.WWW000000315_lancien_prefet_bonnet_en_liberte_conditionnelle.html}}.</ref> Neither was he ever sacked from the civil service: he was suspended after his arrest in May 1999, and retired on a normal pension in October 2006. |
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Revision as of 12:31, 31 October 2016
Bernard Bonnet (born 11 February 1948), French civil servant, is best known for being the first prefect since World War II to be convicted of an offense committed in the course of his duties,[citation needed] his role in the "Affair of the beach huts".
Early career
Bernard Bonnet was born in Grünstadt, Germany, where his father, an army officer, was serving. He entered the French civil service as a tax inspector, a post he occupied for five years before being admitted to the prestigious École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in the "Guernica" class of 1976. On graduation, he obtained a post at the Interior Ministry.
- chief-of-staff to the prefect of Vendée (1976–78)
- chief-of-staff to the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais (1978–79)
- secretary general of the prefecture of the Aude (1979–91)
- deputy prefect, responsible for security, at the regional prefecture of Corsica (1991–92)
Prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales
Bernard Bonnet was named as prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales in 1993 by Charles Pasqua. He was strongly opposed to expressions of catalanism in the département, including the public use of the Catalan language, and his time in Perpignan has been described as "five years of absolute rule by a super-prefect"[1] in the pseudonymous book Bernard Bonnet, un préfet chez les Catalans[2] After his departure for Corsica, a fake death notice appeared in Catalan in L'Indépendant, the main local newspaper in Perpignan.[citation needed]
Prefect of Corsica
Bernard Bonnet was named as prefect of Corsica by Jean-Pierre Chevènement on 9 February 1998, just three days after the assassination of his predecessor Claude Erignac. His role, as announced by Chevènement, was to "restore the state of law",[citation needed] and he quickly showed a firm hand against nationalist groups. He was particularly uncompromising in his use of Article 40 of the Code of Penal Procedure, which obliges civil servants to denounce any illegal activity of which they are aware.[3]
His style brought protests from Corsican politicians, but were generally well received on mainland France.[4][5] In a session of the Corsican Assembly on 31 October 1998, he was asked ironically by members of the Corsica Nazione group "when he was leaving": he replied that it would be "when your friends stop racketeering, when your friends stop the assassinations at village festivals, when your friends stop planting explosives."[4]
Affair of the beach huts
Bernard Bonnet's career came to an abrupt end in 1999 with the "affair of the beach huts" (French: affaire des paillotes). On the night of 19–20 April 1999, two illegally constructed beach restaurants were destroyed in an arson attack at Cala d'Orzo, south of Ajaccio. Bonnet initially suggested that the attack was a result of a disagreement between armed separatist groups (a common occurrence in Corsica at the time), but the police investigation quickly indicated that the fire had been started by a group of gendarmes from the elite Groupe de peloton de sécurité (GPS).[6] A walkie-talkie, a compass, a blood-stained balaclava and several jerrycans which had contained petrol were discovered buried in the sand of the beach on 23 April, while a badly-burned patient had been anonymously admitted to the Rangueil University Hospital in Toulouse, transferred from the neighbouring military hospital.[citation needed]
Bonnet was arrested on 3 May and flown to Paris for questioning:[7] he was held in prison on remand (détention préventive) for two months. After a trial in Ajaccio, he was found guilty of conspiracy to arson (complicité de destruction de biens appartenant à autrui par l'effet d'un incendie) on 10 January 2002 and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, two of which were suspended, and three years deprivation of his civil rights (privation des droits civiques).[8][9]
Bonnet appealed against his conviction, first to the Court of Appeal in Bastia, which rejected the appeal on 15 January 2003, and then to the Court of Cassation, France's highest court, which rejected his petition on 13 October 2004.[10] His request for a Presidential pardon was rejected by Jacques Chirac in March 2005.[11] Nevertheless, Bonnet never returned to prison as he was granted probation (liberté conditionnelle) by a Paris judge on 9 June 2006, a decision confirmed on appeal on 12 October 2006.[12] Neither was he ever sacked from the civil service: he was suspended after his arrest in May 1999, and retired on a normal pension in October 2006.
Bibliography
Works by Bernard Bonnet:
- Préfet en Corse, Michel Lafon, 1999, 302pp, ISBN 2-84098-532-2.
- A vous de juger: Contre-enquête sur une affaire d'Etat en Corse, Flammarion, 2001, 484pp, ISBN 2-08-068224-5.
- Le sang et le pilori, L'Archipel, 2005, 332pp, ISBN 2-84187-735-3.
References
- Much of the material in this article has been translated from the article Bernard Bonnet on French Wikipedia.
- Denis Touret (2007-02-12). "France, Corse, Etat de droit (Etat soeur), nationalistes, justice, émissaire, préfet Bernard Bonnet:". Retrieved 2007-04-03.
Notes
- ^ "Bernard Bonnet: un préfet chez les catalans" (in French). Llibreria catalana. Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help). - ^ Duran, Marc (2000), Bernard Bonnet, un préfet chez les Catalans, Éditions de la tempête
- ^ A. B. (2001-11-19), "Bernard Bonnet, "serviteur de l'État" ou "autocrate manipulateur" ?", L'Humanité [dead link].
- ^ a b Chabrun, Laurent (1998-11-05), "Bernard Bonnet, préfet courage", L'Express (in French), archived from the original on September 30, 2007
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help). - ^ "Bernard Bonnet, préfet à poigne", L'Humanité, 1999-04-30, archived from the original on March 2, 2005
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help). - ^ Venturini, Lionel (1999-04-30), "Un "Rainbow paillotes" en Corse", L'Humanité (in French) [dead link].
- ^ Tylor, Richard (1999-05-24). "Police and senior government officials implicated in arson attack". World Socialist Web Site..
- ^ "Corsica ex-governor guity of arson". CNN. 2002-01-11. Archived from the original on 2007-07-11.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help). - ^ "Paillotes : prison ferme pour le préfet Bonnet", Le Figaro, 2002-01-11.
- ^ Bulletin criminel 2004 N° 243, p. 885 (Petition no. 03-81763).
- ^ Tomasovitch, Geoffroy (2005-03-12), Le Parisien
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help). - ^ Durand-Souffland, Stéphane (2006-10-13), "Le préfet Bonnet reste en liberté conditionnelle", Le Figaro.
