Death Penalty News

During the French annexation, 36 prisoners were executed using this device. Built in 1799, this structure basically consists of a tall, vertical oak frame fitted with a heavy steel blade with an oblique cutting edge and suspended from the top. It was designed for a rapid execution by decapitation of those who were condemned to death in the Swiss canton of Geneva during the French period. Today it is part of the Permanent Collection at the Tavel House, the oldest building in Geneva.  

Robert Badinter (1928-2024), avocat pénaliste, professeur de droit, homme politique, ministre, était également un farouche opposant à la peine de mort.  Nommé garde des Sceaux (ministre de la Justice) à la suite de l'élection de François Mitterrand à la présidence de la République en mai 1981, il déploya une énergie considérable pour obtenir l'abolition de la peine capitale, votée par le Parlement français dès le mois de septembre 1981. En 1965, Robert Badinter et Jean-Denis Bredin fondèrent un cabinet d'avocats, au sein duquel il exerça jusqu'en 1981. Son combat idéologique, moral et philosophique contre la peine de mort prit une ampleur plus aiguë et plus militante après l'exécution de son client, Roger Bontems, le 28 novembre 1972.

Former French justice minister Robert Badinter, who has died aged 95, saved many lives by dedicating his own to the fight against capital punishment, playing a pivotal role in banning the dreaded guillotine in 1981. Robert Badinter (pictured), born on March 30, 1928, was a prominent French lawyer, academic, and politician who played a pivotal role in the abolition of the death penalty in France. His impactful career reflects his unwavering commitment to human rights and justice. Badinter's journey in the legal realm began with his education at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the University of Paris Law School, where he developed a profound attachment for the principles that would shape his future endeavors. After completing his studies, Badinter embarked on a career marked by dedication to justice.

The execution of Louis XVI , in application of the death sentence of the former king of France and Navarre and former king of the French pronounced by the Members of the National Convention at the end of his trial, took place on Monday 21 January 1793 at 10:22 a.m., in Paris, on the Place de la Révolution (former Place Louis XV, which became Place de la Concorde in 1795). It is a major event in the French Revolution, and more generally in French history.

The French Revolution of 1789 was a pivotal event in history, marked by profound social, political, and cultural changes. The revolution aimed to dismantle the existing monarchical system, abolish feudal privileges, and establish principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The upheaval had its roots in widespread discontent with the absolute monarchy, financial crisis, and social inequality. The Estates-General (Etats généraux) was convened in 1789 to address the fiscal problems, but tensions escalated, leading to the formation of the National Assembly. 

L'écrivain français Gilles Perrault, dont le roman " Le pull-over rouge " a suscité en France une polémique majeure sur la peine capitale, est décédé jeudi à Sainte-Marie-du-Mont (Manche), a annoncé aujourd'hui sa famille. Il avait 92 ans. "Je peux confirmer qu'il est décédé hier soir, le 3 août, d'un arrêt cardiaque", a déclaré l'un de ses proches à l'AFP. Né Jacques Peyroles, il avait travaillé pendant plusieurs années comme avocat avant de devenir journaliste puis romancier, publiant sous le pseudonyme de Gilles Perrault.

French writer Gilles Perrault, whose "Le Pull-Over Rouge" novel helped spark debate over capital punishment in France, has died, his family said on Thursday. He was 92. "I can confirm that he died at 92 last night on August 3 from cardiac arrest", a source in his family told AFP. Born as Jacques Peyroles, he worked for several years as a lawyer before becoming a journalist and then a novelist, writing under the pseudonym Gilles Perrault.  In 1978, he published " Le Pull-Over Rouge " (The Red Sweater), which called into question the conviction of a man, Christian Ranucci, who had been put to death by beheading two years prior for the abduction and killing of an eight-year-old girl in 1974.

A blood-stained guillotine used by an infamous executioner to kill 1,200 people in Nazi Germany should be put on public display, the man who rediscovered it has said. The grisly relic was operated by Johann Reichhart, believed to be the fastest executioner in history, and took just seconds to take somebody’s life with a blade weighing 30lbs and a wooden bench bleached from constant washing. Journalist and author Ulrich Trebbin found it by accident at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, announcing his discovery in 2014. However, at the time, the Bavarian regional government concluded it should stay out of the public eye in case it offends the families of victims and attracts ghoulish attention.

Donald Trump has long loved the death penalty . It now seems that he wants to turn executions into spectacles of cruelty. On February 14, Rolling Stone reported that, if he is returned to the White House, Trump has a three-part plan to heighten the drama of state killing. First, he would like to have the federal government use the firing squad, hanging, or even the guillotine when it puts people to death. Second, he thinks it should carry out mass executions by killing many people at one time. Third, he would like to film and broadcast at least some part of the execution process.

The former president wants to expand the use of the death penalty, and expand the federal government's options for carrying out death sentences “WHAT DO YOU think of firing squads?” That’s the question Donald Trump repeatedly asked some close associates in the run-up to the 2024 presidential campaign, three people familiar with the situation tell Rolling Stone. It’s not an idle inquiry: The former president, if re-elected, is still committed to expanding the use of the federal death penalty and bringing back banned methods of execution, the sources say. He has even, one of the sources recounts, mused about televising footage of executions, including showing condemned prisoners in the final moments of their lives.

The guillotine is one of the most recognizable execution devices in the world. The iconic appearance of the fearsome angled blade ranks up there with the gallows and the cross as the more prominent images of human execution.  The guillotine dominated a gruesome part of European history and continues to engage the imagination to this day. But the guillotine was never supposed to become the killing machine that it did. When the French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin advocated for the use of the beheading device as a method of execution, he could not have known that it would be used to kill thousands of his countrymen. The guillotine was initially invented as a mercy device. It was supposed to be a modernization of Medieval execution methods that had grown gory and inhumane. Enlightened people could not bear to kill people in such ways any longer. There had to be a better way. Those condemned to die should not also have to be tortured en-route to their final punishment. A death pena...

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, France's president from 1974 to 1981, has died at the age of 94. He died of complications from coronavirus, surrounded by his family at his estate in central France. A centre-right, pro-Europe politician, Giscard d'Estaing also liberalised laws on divorce, abortion and contraception during his seven years in power. In later life, Giscard d'Estaing liked to portray himself as the grand old man of French politics. He was seen by many as arrogant and aloof; his presidential popularity was short-lived and he was eventually squeezed out of office by a strengthening of opposition from both the left and the right. Although he voiced his opposition to the death penalty, he refused to commute three of the death sentences passed during his term, and the last use of the guillotine in France took place in 1977. Giscard d'Estaing lost the 1981 presidential election to Francois Mitterrand, who shortly after his election commuted all standing death senten...

Click here to Google translate the following text into your own language Un ami tentait de me convaincre hier soir, au cours d'une discussion que j'ai pourtant pris l'habitude d'éviter depuis des années, qu'il existait des "cas", des crimes d'une telle monstruosité qu'ils justifiaient la peine de mort, notamment les crimes contre les enfants.  Cette discussion était inutile -- mais je le savais en m'y engageant. Elle n'a débouché sur rien, sinon de l'animosité et des haussements de ton. Elle a renforcé mon ami dans ses convictions, mon apparente "cécité face à la réalité" légitimant un peu plus sa position et la justesse de son point de vue. J'ai décidé de ne pas pousser le débat plus avant.  Le texte d'Albert Camus reproduit ci-dessous explique admirablement pourquoi je me bats depuis des années contre la peine de mort, quel que soit le crime commis par le condamné. Le deuxième paragraphe est celui qui...

Bones fragments were discovered in the walls of the Chapelle Expiatoire, Paris The remains of up to 500 people executed by guillotine in the French Revolution could be buried in the walls of a Paris monument, experts believe.   Bone fragments were discovered in the walls of the Chapelle Expiatoire which is a classified monument in Paris.  Archeologist Philippe Charlier examined the monument's walls with a small camera inserted through the stones, The Guardian reported. He said there was earth mixed with bone fragments.   The monument is dedicated to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette who were executed at the Place de la Révolution before being formally buried at the Basilica of St Denis .  French authorities called in an archeologist, who inserted a camera through the stones in the walls, so they didn't damage the building's foundations.  The chapel's administrator Aymeric Peniguet de Stoutz had noticed anomalies in the wal...

✔ Click here to Google translate this story into your own language Du 2 au 5 mars, Europe 1 propose de revivre un moment d'histoire : le combat de Robert Badinter contre la peine de mort.  Dans l'émission "Hondelatte raconte", l'ancien ministre de la Justice revient notamment sur son échec lors du procès de Roger Bontems en 1972, presque dix ans avant l'abolition de la peine capitale.  Robert Badinter s'est longuement confié à Christophe Hondelatte et lui a raconté la croisade qu'il a menée contre la peine de mort.  Dans le premier épisode, disponible en podcast (et ci-dessous ), l'ancien ministre de la Justice raconte son échec durant le procès de Roger Bontems.  Cet ancien militaire, condamné après une prise d'otage meurtrière dans la centrale de Clairvaux en 1972, avait été exécuté.  "J'ai le sentiment que c'était joué d'avance", se souvient-il. "J’admire cette espèce d’aveuglement de c...

✔  Click here to Google translate this story into your own language Ce vendredi, le Conseil constitutionnel n'a pas estimé contraire à la Constitution la non réhabilitation judiciaire des condamnés à mort. Il était saisi par le fils de Jacques Fesch, guillotiné en 1957, qui avait trouvé la foi en prison, à tel point que l'Église envisage de le béatifier. Le Conseil constitutionnel a estimé ce vendredi matin que l'impossibilité de réhabilitation judiciaire des condamnés à mort n'était pas contraire à la Constitution. Toutefois, il a recommandé au législateur d'instituer une procédure particulière pour les ayants-droit des personnes condamnées à mort. La possibilité d'une réhabilitation judiciaire de Jacques Fesch n'est donc pas complètement écartée. En 1957, Jacques Fesch a été exécuté à la guillotine à l’âge de 27 ans. Il avait été condamné à mort quelques mois plus tôt par la Cour d’assises de la Seine pour avoir tué un policier après le braq...