Jacques Vergès

Infobox Person
name = Jacques Vergès


image_size =
caption =
birth_name = Jacques Vergès
birth_date = Birth date and age|1925|03|05
birth_place = Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand
residence = Paris, France
nationality = French, Algerian
known_for = Lawyer who has represented well-known war criminals.cite web |date=July 03, 1987|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/3/newsid_2492000/2492285.stm|title = 1987: Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie gets life|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last= |quote=]
education = University of Paris law degree
occupation = Lawyer
spouse = Djamila Bouhired
partner =
children =
parents = Raymond Vergès
website =

Jacques Vergès (born March 5, 1925 in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand) is a French lawyer who has earned fame continually since the 1950s, first as an anticolonialist communist figure and then for defending a long string of infamous clients from anticolonialist Algerian terrorist bomber Djamila Bouhired in 1957-1962 to former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan (2008). His clients have included both leftwing and rightwing terrorists, war criminals, and militants, including Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy, Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie (1987), and international terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal) (1994) In 2002, he offered to represent former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, although Milošević declined any legal advice from any party. The media have sensationalized him with the sobriquet, "the Devil's advocate"The sobriquet "The Devil's advocate" has been used by the European press to describe not only Jacques Verges but also Giovanni di Stefano.] , and he himself has contributed to his "notorious" public persona by such acts as titling his autobiography "The Brilliant Bastard"The French epithet has sometimes been translated as "luminous bastard"] and giving provocative replies in interviews. When asked if he would have defended Hitler, Vergès replied, "...I'd even defend Bush! But only if he agrees to plead guilty."Event occurs at 01:58:42 - cite video
people = Director:Barbet Schroeder, Interviewee:Jacques Vergès
date2 = 2008-04-12
month2 = October
year2 = 2007
title = Avocat de la terreur, L'
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
format = Documentary
medium = DVD
publisher = Canal+ [fr]
location =
accessdate = 2008-04-12
accessmonth= 08
accessyear = 2008
time =
id =
isbn =
oclc =
quote = "I can't stand a man being humiliated, even an enemy. For a lone man to be insulted by a lynch mob. I was asked: "Would you defend Hitler?" "I said I'd even defend Bush! "But only if he agrees to plead guilty."] cite web |date=Friday, October 12, 2007|url = http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/12/entertainment/et-advocate12|title = Giving monsters a strong defense|format = HTML |publisher = Los Angeles Times| accessdate = 2008-08-13 | last=Kenneth Turan |quote=]

Biography

Born in Thailand and brought up on the island of Réunioncite web |date=Monday, 29 March, 2004, 11:37 GMT 12:37 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3578421.stm|title = Jacques Verges: 'The Devil's advocate'|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last= |quote=] , Jacques Vergès is the son of Raymond Vergès, a French diplomat, and a Vietnamese mother. In 1942, with his father's encouragement, he sailed to Liverpool to become part of the Free French Forces under Charles de Gaulle, and to participate in the anti-Nazi resistance.Event occurs at 00:04:04 - cite video
people = Director:Barbet Schroeder, Interviewee:Jacques Vergès
date2 = 2008-04-12
month2 = October
year2 = 2007
title = Avocat de la terreur, L'
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
format = Documentary
medium = DVD
publisher = Canal+ [fr]
location =
accessdate = 2008-04-12
accessmonth= 08
accessyear = 2008
time =
id = [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB - 1032854]
isbn =
oclc =
quote = "For France to disappear was intolerable to me. That's why I enlisted."] After the war, while his twin brother Paul was imprisoned for murdering a political rival to their fatherFact|date=April 2008, Jacques went to the University of Paris to study law (his brother Paul Vergès went on to become the leader of the Reunionese Communist Party and Member of the European Parliament).cite web |date=2007 |url = http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/inOut/viewOutgoing.do;jsessionid=12CB1C8C8232CDE7721859CCBCB0ED23.node1?id=1490&language=EN|title = MEP profile|format = HTML |publisher = European Union| accessdate = 2008-04-13 | last= |quote=] In 1949 Jacques became president of the AEC (Association for Colonial Students), where he met and befriended Pol Potcite web |date=October 21, 2007|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21wwln-lede-t.html?_r=2&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/V/Verg&oref=slogin&oref=slogin#232;s,%20Jacques|title = Speak No ‘Evil’|format = HTML |publisher = New York Times| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last=DAPHNE MERKIN |quote=] . In 1950 at the request of his Communist mentors he went to Prague to lead a youth organization for four years.cite web |date=2008|url = http://european-films.net/content/view/966/118/|title = review: L'avocat de la terreur (Terror's Advocate) (Rotterdam 2008)|format = HTML |publisher = european-films.net| accessdate = 2008-04-13 | last= Boyd van Hoeij|quote=Not mentioned either are his controversial defence of Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy and his formative work in Prague in the 1950s – in the middle of the Cold War, though possible connections with secret services and many underground organisations in countries ranging from Germany to Israel and Algeria are hinted at and explored.]

Algerian independence movement

After returning to France, Vergès became an attorney and quickly gained fame for his willingness to take controversial cases. During the struggle in Algiers he defended many accused of terrorism by the French government. He was a supporter of the Algerian armed independence struggle against France, comparing it to French armed resistance to the Nazi German occupation in the 1940s. He also left the French Communist Party following their political move towards the Fourth Republic.Fact|date=April 2008

Vergès became a nationally-known figure following his defense of suspected anti-French Algerian guerrilla Djamila Bouhired on terrorism charges (she was accused of blowing up a café, a civilian target). This is where he pioneered the rupture strategy in which he accused the prosecution of the same offenses as the defendants. She was condemned to death but pardoned and freed following public pressure brought on by Vergès' efforts. After many years she married Vergès, who had by this time converted to Islam and changed his name to Mansoor.cite web |date=2007 |url = http://www.alshindagah.com/novdec03/womanofdistinction.htm|title = Women of Distinction: Djamila Bouhired The Symbol of National Liberation|format = HTML |publisher = pub| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last=Ma'n Abul Husn |quote=] In an effort to limit Vergès success at defending Algerian clients he was sentenced to two months in jail in 1960 and temporary lost his license to officially practice law for anti-state activities.cite web |date=April 14, 2004|url = http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20040414.americawar.radu.circusverges.html|title = Saddam Circus Is Coming to Town: the Strange Story of Jacques Verges|format = HTML |publisher = Foreign Policy Research Institute| accessdate = 2008-08-14 | last=Michael Radu |quote=At a time when France was at war, Verges openly supported and defended terrorists and their French accomplices— that is, traitors. He was jailed for this for two months in 1960 and temporarily disbarred.]

Just out of prison he used his publicity tactics to defend the Jeanson network.Fact|date=April 2008 It was during a ferocious cross examination that Paul Teitgen, commander of the Algerian police, publicly admitted to the use of torture.Fact|date=April 2008

Later career

After working in Algeria, Vergès started to focus on Israel. He saw Israel as a base for neo-imperialism in the Middle East and when the wave of PFLP civilian hijackings started in 1968 Vergès often appeared in court to defend them.

Disappeared years

From 1970-78, Vergès disappeared from public view without explanation. Vergès was last seen on February 24, 1970. He left his famous wife, Djamila, and cut off all his ties, leaving friends and family to wonder if he had been killed.Event occurs at 00:50:29 - cite video
people = Director:Barbet Schroeder
date2 = 2008-04-12
month2 = October
year2 = 2007
title = Avocat de la terreur, L'
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
format = Documentary
medium = DVD
publisher = Canal+ [fr]
location =
accessdate = 2008-04-12
accessmonth= 08
accessyear = 2008
time =
id = [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB - 1032854]
isbn =
oclc =
quote = "He was last seen on February 24, 1970, at an anti-colonial rally in Paris. He made a speech and vanished. After 3 months, Djamila Bouhired and his friends, were sure he was dead."] His whereabouts during these years have remained a mystery. Many of his close associates of the time assume that he was in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, a rumor Pol Pot (Brother #1) and Ieng Sary(Brother #2)Event occurs at 00:52:56 - cite video
people = Director:Barbet Schroeder, Interviewee: Ieng Sary
date2 = 2008-04-12
month2 = October
year2 = 2007
title = Avocat de la terreur, L'
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
format = Documentary
medium = DVD
publisher = Canal+ [fr]
location =
accessdate = 2008-04-12
accessmonth= 08
accessyear = 2008
time =
id = [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB - 1032854]
isbn =
oclc =
quote = "The Brilliant Bastard In that book are two passages I remember. It says ... that Jacques Vergès could have been in Cambodia. I remember that Pol Pot wrote in the margin: No."] both denied. There have also been claims that Vergès was spotted in Paris as well as in various Arab countries in the company of Palestine Liberation groups.Event occurs at 00:55:44 - cite video
people = Director:Barbet Schroeder, Interviewee:Pascal
date2 = 2008-04-12
month2 = October
year2 = 2007
title = Avocat de la terreur, L'
url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
format = Documentary
medium = DVD
publisher = Canal+ [fr]
location =
accessdate = 2008-04-12
accessmonth= 08
accessyear = 2008
time =
id = [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB - 1032854]
isbn =
oclc =
quote = "It was in May 1973, ... several politicians ... were meeting at Arafat's HQ. ... Arafat suddenly looked at [Abou Hassan Salameh PLO security chief] and asked: "Who is this Vergès? What is he?" Abou Hassan Salameh answered literally: "He's an important lawyer who defends the Palestinian cause." Arafat smiled and said: "Keep working with him." My codename was "Pascal". And Vergès? "Mansour"."]

Defense

Upon his return to normal life he resumed his legal practice, defending Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, convicted of terrorism, and Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie. The thrust of his defense in the latter case was that Barbie was being singled out for prosecution while the French state conveniently ignored other cases that qualified as crimes against humanity.

In 1999 Vergès sued Amnesty International on behalf of the government of Togo.cite web |date=Thursday, May 20, 1999 Published at 11:56 GMT 12:56 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/348602.stm|title = Togo to sue Amnesty International|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last= |quote=] In 2001, on behalf of Idriss Déby, president of Chad, Omar Bongo, president of Gabon, and Denis Sassou-Nguesso, head of the Republic of the Congo, he sued François-Xavier Verschave for his book "Noir silence" denouncing the crimes of the "Françafrique" on the charges of "offense toward a foreign state leader".cite web |date=Wednesday, 25 April, 2001, 14:05 GMT 15:05 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1295740.stm|title = French author wins Africa book case|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-04-12 | last= |quote=] The attorney general observed how this crime recalled the lese majesty crime; the court thus deemed it contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, thus leading to Verschave's acquittal.

After the US-led occupation forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 and deposed president Saddam Hussein, many former leaders in Saddam's regime were arrested. In May 2008 Tariq Aziz assembled a team that included Jacques Verges as well as four Italian and a French-Lebanese lawyers. cite web |date=09:33 GMT, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 10:33 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7409933.stm|title = Tariq Aziz trial resumes in Iraq|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-05-20 | last= |quote=] In late 2003 when the United States arrested Saddam, Jacques Vergès also offered to defend Saddam if he was asked to. "If I have to choose between defending the wolf or the dog, I choose the wolf, especially when he is bleeding".Fact|date=April 2008 However, Saddam's family opted not to use Jacques Vergès as part of his defense team instead first hiring a team of lawyers based out of Jordan then making Khalil al-Duleimi the sole legal counsel.cite web |date=Monday, 8 August 2005, 12:22 GMT 13:22 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131474.stm|title = Saddam family slims defence team|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-08-14 | last= |quote=]

In April of 2008 former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan made his first appearance at Cambodia's genocide tribunal. His lawyer, Jacques Vergès, is using the defense that while he has never denied that many people in Cambodia were killed, but both he and Vergès insist that, as head of state, he was never directly responsible.cite web |date=07:33 GMT, Wednesday, 23 April 2008 08:33 UK|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7362248.stm|title = Khmer Rouge leader seeks release|format = HTML |publisher = BBC News| accessdate = 2008-04-23 | last= |quote=]

Jacques Vergès in popular media

*Because of his tendency to represent some of the most infamous defendants, Vergès is sometimes referred to as "The Devil's Advocate", which is also how he describes himself. Barbet Schroeder's documentary on Vergès, released in October 2007, is called "Terror's Advocate" ("L'Avocat de la terreur").

ee also

*François-Xavier Verschave critics of "Françafrique"

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

*imdb title|id=1032854|title=Avocat de la terreur, L' (2007)
* [http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/ind051404.htm Interview with Verges]
* [http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/ Cambodia Tribunal Monitor]