Djamila bouhired et jacques verges biography

Jacques Vergès

French lawyer, political activist and writer (1925–2013)

Jacques Vergès (French pronunciation:[ʒakvɛʁʒɛs]; 5 March 1925 – 15 August 2013) was a Vietnamese French lawyer and anti-colonial activist. Vergès began as a fighter in the French Resistance during World War II, under Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces. After becoming a lawyer, he became well known for his defense of FLN militants during the Algerian War of Independence. He was later involved in a number of controversial and high-profile legal cases, with a series of defendants charged with terrorism, serial murder, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. This includes Nazi officer Klaus Barbie "the Butcher of Lyon" in 1987, terrorist Carlos the Jackal in 1994, and former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan in 2008. He also defended infamous Holocaust denierRoger Garaudy in 1998 as well as members of the Baader-Meinhof gang. As a result of taking on such clients, he garnered criticism from members of the public, including intellectuals Bernard-Henri Lévy and Alain Finkielkraut, political-activist Gerry Gable as well as Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld.

Vergès attracted widespread public attention in the 1950s for his use of trials as a forum for expressing views against French colonial rule in Algeria, questioning the authority of the prosecution and causing chaos in proceedings – a method he promoted as "rupture defense" in his book De la stratégie judiciaire. He was imprisoned for his activism in 1960 and temporarily lost his license to officially practice law. He was a supporter of the Palestinian fedayeen in the 1960s. He would later disappear from 1970 to 1978, without ever explaining his whereabouts during that period. An outspoken anti-imperialist, he continued his vocal political activism in the 2000s, including opposing the War on Terror. The media sensationalized his activities with the sobriq

  • Hassiba ben bouali
  • Jacques vergès

    • Djamila Bouhired: Algerian Resistance Icon





    Djamila Bouhired is a nationalist and guerrilla fighter who opposed French colonial rule in Algeria. She was born in 1935 to a Tunisian mother and an Algerian father and was raised in middle class family. While staying at a French school in Algeria, she discovered her revolutionary spirit. When children would repeat every morning “France is our mother”, Bouhired would stand up and scream “Algeria is our mother!”
    At age 20, she started her national activism against the French colonization when the revolution broke in 1954 after 130 years of French occupation. She worked as a liaison officer and personal assistant to FLN commander Yacef Saadi in Algiers, and was he first to volunteer to plant bombs on roads used by the French military occupation.
    In 1957, before a large planned demonstration in the Casbah, she was captured by the French. According to her personal of account of her incredible story, she was tortured for 17 days to force her to reveal information about the FLD leader, but she refused
    In the July of the same year, Bouhired was tried for allegedly bombing a cafe, alongside another Algerian freedom fighter, Djamila Bouazza, aged 19. The bomb killed 11 civilians inside. At the time the French lawyer Jacques Vergès, sympathetic to the cause of the Algerian nationalists, heard of her case and decided to represent her. In what would be a historic trial, Vergès accused the government of themselves having committed the acts charged in his defense, waging a public relations campaign on her behalf. Despite his efforts, she was convicted and sentenced to death by the guillotine.
    Vergès co-wrote a plea against the decision to sentence Bouhired to death. Meanwhile, many groups formed throughout Algeria and abroad to convince the government to drop the death sentence. Most notably, princess Laila Ayesha of Morocco contacted the President of France at the time, René Coty, and asked that Bouhired be spared. They agreed

    Djamila Bouhired: A Profile From the Archives

    [”A Profile from the Archives“ is a new series published by Jadaliyya in both Arabic and English in cooperation with the Lebanese newspaper, Assafir. These profiles will feature iconic figures who left indelible marks in the politics and culture of the Middle East and North Africa.]

    Name: Djamila
    Known as: Bouhired
    Date of birth: 1935
    Spouse: Jacques Vergès
    Date of marriage: 1965
    Children: Maryam/Lias
    Nationality: Algeria
    Category: Political activist

    Djamila Bouhired

    - Algerian (struggler, one of three Djamilas known in the history of Algerian struggle, including her, Djamila Bu Azza, and Djamila Bu Basha).

    - Born in 1935 in Al-Qasaba neighborhood to an Algerian father and Tunisian mother in a middle class family. She was the only daughter among seven sons.

    - She went to a French school that used to force students to sing the anthem “France is our mother” every morning, but Djamila, due to her participation in the Algerian struggle since her school days, used to sing “Algeria is our mother,” which drove the French headmaster to severely punish her.

    - When the Algerian revolution broke out in 1954, she joined the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) when she was twenty years old. She joined the Fedayeen later and was the first to volunteer to plant bombs in the roads used by the French during the occupation. Due to her heroic acts she became "most wanted."

    - On 26 January 1957, she started her journey of struggle when she detonated a time bomb in a club visited frequently by French youth doing their military service in Algeria. Several bombings ensued.

    - On 9 April 1957, she was arrested by a patrol of the occupation after she was shot in her leg. The patrol found documents with her along with letters and a lot of money, which proved that she had a connection with the commander of the Algerian Fedayeen, Yasif Saadi.

    - When she was subjected to torture, she state

    Djamila Bouhired

    Algerian militant

    Not to be confused with Djamila Boupacha.

    Djamila Bouhired (Arabic: جميلة بوحيرد, born June 1935) is an Algerian nationalist militant, who opposed the French colonial rule of Algeria as a member of the National Liberation Front.

    In 1957, she was convicted alongside another Algerian rebel, Djamila Bouazza, of bombing a cafe and killing 11 civilians. She was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted after an international campaign for her to be spared, and she was released from prison in 1962.

    Biography

    Djamila Bouherid was born into a middle-class family in colonial Algeria. Her brothers were involved with the underground nationalist resistance movement, and Bouhired joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) while a student activist. During the Algerian War, she worked as a liaison agent for FLN commander Saadi Yacef in Algiers.

    In April 1957, before a large planned demonstration in the Casbah, she was captured by the French and tortured for information. Bouhired maintains that she did not confess to any wrongdoing or reveal any confidential information about the FLN. According to Bouhired, the torture went on for a total of 17 days.

    Arrest and death sentence

    In July 1957, she was tried for allegedly bombing a cafe, alongside another Algerian rebel, Djamila Bouazza, aged 19. The bomb killed 11 civilians. At the time the French lawyer Jacques Vergès, sympathetic to the cause of the Algerian nationalists, heard of her case and decided to represent her. During the trial, Vergès waged a public relations campaign on Bouhired's behalf and accused the French government of having committed the bombing themselves. Despite Vergès's efforts, Bouhired was convicted and sentenced to death by guillotine.

    Vergès co-wrote a plea arguing that Bouhired should not receive the death penalty. Variou