French army officers face punishment for
‘coup’ threat
Retired generals and
several hundred officers face formal punishment after telling President Macron
that France was risking a military coup for failing to crack down on Islamists
who are causing the country to “disintegrate”.
Florence Parly, the
defence minister, has ordered an investigation into the signatories to an
inflammatory letter written by a former gendarmerie officer with a far-right
background. It was first published on a pro-military website and in Valeurs
Actuelles, a right-wing magazine, last week. Many of those who signed it,
including non-commissioned officers, appeared to be serving members of the
forces.
The letter, written by
Jean-Pierre Fabre-Bernadac, a retired captain, said France was being destroyed
by immigrant Muslim “hordes” from the suburban housing estates that ring its
cities. To avert civil war, it said, required “intervention by our comrades on
active service in the dangerous mission of protecting our civilised values and
the safety of our compatriots”.
It was condemned by all
mainstream parties but supported by Marine Le Pen, leader of the nationalist
National Rally and candidate for the presidential election next spring.
Parly warned that those
behind the letter would not escape repercussions. “These are unacceptable
actions,” she told France Info radio. “There will be consequences, naturally.”
Serving members of the French armed forces were forbidden to voice religious or
political opinions in public, she noted. “The military are not there to campaign,
but to defend France and protect the French,” she said.
While Parly dismissed the
signatories as old retired men “in their slippers”, most of the 24 generals who
signed the letter appear to be on the 2S list, which means they retain their
ranks and receive pay as reservists, officials said. This binds them to the
obligation of silence. They could lose their privileges in disciplinary
proceedings, according to Elodie Maumont, a specialist military lawyer.
Christian Piquemal, 80, a
former commander of the Foreign Legion and the most senior general who signed
the letter, was struck off the reserve list in 2016 for attending an anti-Islam
rally.
The letter carried the
names of 80 colonels or naval captains. There were 125 lieutenant-colonels or
naval commanders and hundreds of lower-ranking officers. If serving officers
are identified they could face court martial charges of incitement contrary to
the military legal code, Maumont said, punishable by two years in jail or five
for senior officers.
Jean-Luc Melenchon,
leader of the radical left party France Unbowed, and a presidential candidate, called
for the dismissal of all serving officers who put their names to the letter.
Fabre-Bernadac, 70, said
he had not sought to identify active servicemen who had signed his letter. “I
hope there aren’t any,” he said. He said he wrote it after hearing military
colleagues tell of their unhappiness at the disordered state of France. “What
we are feeling, everyone is feeling,” he said.
A further 1,000 people
had since added their names to the original 1,200 who signed the letter, he
claimed.
The Times
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