Editing Jacques Vergès (section)

==Biography==
Born on 5 March 1925 in [[Ubon Ratchathani]], [[Siam]], and brought up on the island of [[Réunion]] with his twin brother [[Paul Vergès]],<ref name=NYT /><ref name="bbc_bio">{{cite news |date= 29 March 2004<!--, 11:37 GMT 12:37 UK-->|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3578421.stm|title = Jacques Vergès: 'The Devil's advocate' |publisher = BBC News |access-date = 12 April 2008 }}</ref> Jacques Vergès was the son of Raymond Vergès, a [[French people|French]] doctor from Réunion, and a [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] teacher named Pham Thi Khang. 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.<ref name="movie_quote_2">Event occurs at 00:04:04 – {{cite video
 |people     = Director:[[Barbet Schroeder]], Interviewee:Jacques Vergès
 |date      = 12 April 2008
 |title      = Avocat de la terreur, L'
 |url        = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
 |format     = Documentary
 |medium     = DVD
 |publisher  = Canal+ [fr]
 |access-date = 12 April 2008
 |id         = [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB – 1032854]
 |quote      = For France to disappear was intolerable to me. That's why I enlisted. }}</ref> He went on to fight in Italy, France, and Germany.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Fejto |first=François |date=1964 |title=A Maoist in France: Jacques Vergès and Revolution |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/651506 |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=19 |pages=120–127 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000042156 |jstor=651506 |s2cid=153675195 |issn=0305-7410|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

After the end of [[World War II]] he entered the [[University of Paris]], where he enrolled in the ''[[Faculté des lettres de Paris|Faculté des lettres]]'' pursuing a degree in history, studying the [[Hindi]] and [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] languages. In 1945 he joined the [[Young Communists (France)|Young Communists]] movement of the [[French Communist Party]], while his father was helping to organize the [[Communist Party of Réunion|Reunionese Communist Party]]. During this time he befriended [[Erich Honecker]], future leader of [[East Germany]], [[Henri Alleg]] and [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny|Felix Hophouet-Boigny]], future President of the [[Ivory Coast]].<ref name=":3" /> He would also marry his first wife Karine at this time. His twin brother, Paul, returned to Reunion, later becoming leader of the Communist Party there, and a member of the [[European Parliament]].<ref name="europarl">{{cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/inOut/viewOutgoing.do;jsessionid=12CB1C8C8232CDE7721859CCBCB0ED23.node1?id=1490&language=EN|title = MEP profile|publisher = [[European Union]]| access-date = 13 April 2008 }}</ref> In 1949 Jacques became president of the AEC (Association for Colonial Students), where he befriended [[Pol Pot]] and [[Khieu Samphan]].<ref name="nytimes_2007">{{cite news |date=21 October 2007 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21wwln-lede-t.html;s,%20Jacques |title = Speak No 'Evil' |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date = 12 April 2008 |first=Daphne |last = Merkin }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1950, at the request of his Communist mentors, he went to [[Prague]] to lead a youth organization for four years.<ref name="review">{{cite web |year = 2008 |url = http://european-films.net/content/view/966/118/ |title = review: L'avocat de la terreur (Terror's Advocate) (Rotterdam 2008) |publisher = european-films.net |access-date = 13 April 2008 |first = Boyd |last = 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. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080403125708/http://european-films.net/content/view/966/118/ |archive-date = 3 April 2008 |url-status = dead }}</ref> He returned to Paris, where he went on to study law, passing his final exams in 1955.<ref name=":3" /> Vergès was then elected ''Secrétaire'' of the ''[[Conférence du barreau de Paris]].''

=== Political activities ===
Arriving in Paris, Jacques Vergès joined the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF) in 1945. On 25 May 1946, Alexis de Villeneuve, who ran for the legislative elections under the [[Popular Republican Movement]] (MRP) against his father, Raymond Vergès, was assassinated in front of the cathedral of Saint-Denis in Réunion. The firearm used belonged to Raymond Vergès.<ref>[https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/l-autre-secret-de-jacques-verges-17-08-2013-1714878_23.php#11 L'autre secret de Jacques Vergès]</ref>

===Algerian independence movement===
{{Further|Jeanson network{{!}}Suitcase carriers}}

After returning to France, Vergès became a lawyer 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.
Vergès became a nationally known figure following his defence of the anti-French Algerian guerrilla [[Djamila Bouhired]] on terrorism charges: she was convicted of blowing up a café and killing eleven people inside it.<ref name="nytimes_2007"/> This is where he pioneered the [[rupture strategy]], in which he accused the prosecution of the same offenses as the defendants.<ref name="rfi_2008">{{cite web |date = 2 November 2008 |url = http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/107/article_2030.asp |title = The Jackal's defender has his own one-man show |publisher = [[Radio France Internationale]] |access-date = 9 November 2008 |last = MARCO CHOWN OVED |archive-date = 21 September 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921064233/http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/107/article_2030.asp |url-status = dead }}</ref> She was sentenced to death but pardoned and freed following public pressure brought on by Vergès' efforts. After some years she married Vergès, who had by then converted to Islam.<ref name="alshindagah">{{cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.alshindagah.com/novdec03/womanofdistinction.htm|title = Women of Distinction: Djamila Bouhired The Symbol of National Liberation|publisher = pub| access-date = 12 April 2008 | last=Ma'n Abul Husn }}</ref> In an effort to limit Vergès' success at defending Algerian clients, he was sentenced to two months in jail in 1960 and temporarily lost his licence to officially practice law for anti-state activities.<ref name="fpri">{{cite web|date = 14 April 2004|url = http://www.fpri.org/enotes/20040414.americawar.radu.circusverges.html|title = Saddam Circus Is Coming to Town: the Strange Story of Jacques Vergès|publisher = Foreign Policy Research Institute|access-date = 14 August 2008|last = Michael Radu|quote = At a time when France was at war, Vergès 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.|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080813084423/http://www.fpri.org//enotes/20040414.americawar.radu.circusverges.html|archive-date = 13 August 2008}}</ref> After [[Algeria]] gained its independence in 1962, Vergès obtained Algerian citizenship, going by the name of Mansour.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/jacques-verges-l-homme-aux-mille-vies-est-mort-16-08-2013-1714482_23.php|title=Jacques Vergès, l'homme aux mille vies|author=Airdj, Jamila|newspaper=Le Point|date=16 August 2013|access-date=16 August 2013|language=fr}}</ref> During the [[Algerian War]] he had become acquainted with [[Ahmed Ben Bella]] of the FLN and the first [[President of Algeria]], Swiss Nazi and financier for the FLN, [[François Genoud]], as well as [[Ahmed Huber]], a Swiss [[Religious conversion|Muslim-convert]] and Nazi who covered the war as a journalist.<ref>{{Citation |last=Schroeder |first=Barbet |title=L'avocat de la terreur |date=2007-06-06 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ |type=Documentary, Biography, History |publisher=La Sofica Uni Etoile 3, Canal+, Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC) |access-date=2022-12-15}}</ref>

===Israel and the Palestinians===
In 1965, Vergès arrived in [[Israel]], seeking to represent Mahmud Hijazi ([[:he:מחמוד חיג'אזי|מחמוד חיג'אזי]]), a Palestinian member of the [[Fatah]] movement who had at the time been sentenced to death by an Israeli military court on charges of terrorism, for crossing into Israel and setting a small demolition charge near the National Water Conduit in the Galilee.<ref name="ICT">{{cite web |last1=Yaffe |first1=Aharon |title=Dr. |url=https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1030/palestinian-terrorism-1968-1978#gsc.tab=0 |website=International Institute on Counter-Terrorism |publisher=Interdisciplinary Centre Herzliya |access-date=5 August 2020 |date=15 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805181020/https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1030/palestinian-terrorism-1968-1978 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |url-status=live |quote=The Palestinian Liberation Organization, commonly known as the PLO, was founded on January 1st 1965, marking its first operation. On that day, the terrorist Mahmud Hijazi was caught having placed a small demolition charge at the National Water Carrier conduit in the Galilee.}}</ref> Israel's Justice Minister [[Dov Yosef]] forbade Hijazi's being represented by a foreign lawyer. Vergès was detained at the airport and deported.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/archive/israel-refuges-entry-to-algerian-who-came-to-defend-arab-terrorist Israel Refuges Entry to Algerian Who Came to Defend Arab Terrorist]</ref> Nevertheless, though Vergès did not succeed in getting to represent Hijazi in court, his initiative generated considerable publicity and controversy which were influential in Hijazi's death sentence being eventually commuted by an appeals court. (Hijazi was later released in a 1971 [[List of Israeli prisoner exchanges|prisoner exchange]].)

===Missing years===
[[File:Jacques Vergès au théâtre de la Madeleine à Paris.jpg|thumb|Jacques Vergès at [[théâtre de la Madeleine]], in Paris, 2008.]]
From 24 February 1970 to 1978, Vergès disappeared from public view without explanation. He refused to comment about those years, remarking in an interview with ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' that "It's highly amusing that no one, in our modern police state, can figure out where I was for almost ten years."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,591943-2,00.html |title=Interview with Notorious Lawyer Jacques Vergès: 'I Shift Events to Outside the Courtroom' |publisher=Spiegel.de |date=21 November 2008 |access-date=2016-09-30 }}</ref> Vergès was last seen at an anti-colonial rally in Paris. He left his wife, Djamila, and cut off all his ties with his friends and family. Many people wondered if he had been killed, kidnapped, become a spy, or had gone into hiding.<ref name="movie_quote_5">Event occurs at 00:50:29 – {{cite video
 |people     = Director:[[Barbet Schroeder]]
 |date      = 12 April 2008
 |title      = Avocat de la terreur, L'
 |url        = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
 |format     = Documentary
 |medium     = DVD
 |publisher  = Canal+ [fr]
 |access-date = 12 April 2008
 |id         = [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB – 1032854]
}}"He was last seen on 24 February 1970, at an anti-colonial rally in Paris. He made a speech and vanished. After three months, Djamila Bouhired and his friends, were sure he was dead."</ref> 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 rumour [[Pol Pot]] (Brother #1), [[Nuon Chea]] (Brother #2) and [[Ieng Sary]] (Brother #3)<ref name="movie_quote_3">Event occurs at 00:52:56 – {{cite video
 |people     = Director:[[Barbet Schroeder]], Interviewee: [[Ieng Sary]]
 |date      = 12 April 2008
 |title      = L'avocat de la terreur
 |url        = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
 |format     = Documentary
 |medium     = DVD
 |publisher  = Canal+ [fr]
 |access-date = 12 April 2008
 |id         = [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB – 1032854]
 |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. }}</ref> have denied. There are claims that Vergès was spotted in Paris by [[Mohamed Boudia]], a contact from Algerian War and an old Communist associate, [[Jiří Pelikán (politician)|Jiří Pelikán]]. He is also alleged to have been in Switzerland at the house of François Genoud according to Ahmed Huber. He was also thought to be in several Arab countries in the company of [[Ali Hassan Salameh]] and Palestinian militant groups according to the Lebanese attorney [[Karim Pakradouni]], and exiled Algerian politician Bachir Boumaza.<ref name="movie_quote_4">Event occurs at 00:55:44 – {{cite video
 |people     = Director: [[Barbet Schroeder]], Interviewee: Pascal
 |date      = 12 April 2008
 |title      = L'avocat de la terreur 
 |url        = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/
 |format     = Documentary
 |medium     = DVD
 |publisher  = Canal+ [fr]
 |access-date = 12 April 2008
 |id         = [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032854/ IMDB – 1032854]
 |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".}}</ref>