Robert Badinter

Robert Badinter born 30 March 1928 is a French lawyer politician and author who enacted the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981 while serving as Minister of Justice under François Mitterrand He has also served in highlevel appointed positions with national and international bodies working for justice and the rule of law Robert Badinter was born 30 March 1928 in Paris to Simon Badinter and Charlotte Rosenberg His Bessarabian Jewish family had immigrated to France in 1921 to escape pogroms During World War II after the Nazi occupation of Paris his family sought refuge in Lyon His father was captured in the 1943 Rue SainteCatherine Roundup and deported with other Jews to the Sobibor extermination camp where he died shortly thereafter Badinter graduated in law from Paris Law Faculty of the University of Paris He then went to the United States to continue his studies at Columbia University in New York City where he got his MA He continued his studies again at the Sorbonne until 1954 In 1965 Badinter was appointed as a professor at University of Sorbonne He continued as an Emeritus professor until 1996 Badinter started his career in Paris in 1951 as a lawyer in a joint work with Henri Torrès In 1965 along with JeanDenis Bredin he founded the law firm Badinter Bredin et partenaires now Bredin Prat where he practiced law until 1981 Badinters activism against the death penalty began after Roger Bontemss execution on 28 November 1972 Along with Claude Buffet Bontems had taken a prison guard and a nurse hostage during the 1971 revolt in Clairvaux Prison While the police were storming the building Buffet slit the hostages throats Badinter served as defense counsel for Bontems Although it was established during the trial that Buffet alone was the murderer the jury sentenced both men to death Badinter was outraged by unfair impositions of the death penalty and after witnessing the executions further dedicated himself to the abolition of the death penalty In this context he agreed to defend Patrick Henry In January 1976 8yearold Philipe Bertrand was kidnapped Henry was soon picked up as a suspect but released because of a lack of proof He gave interviews on television saying that those who kidnapped and killed children deserved death A few days later he was again arrested and shown Bertrands corpse hidden in a blanket under his bed Badinter and Robert Bocquillon defended Henry making the case not about Henrys guilt but against applying the death penalty Henry was sentenced to life imprisonment and paroled in 2001 Source Article Robert Badinter from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30