JEK
Senior Insider
THE HAENEN POLÉMIC SURROUNDED IN THE COURT: "IT'S NOT A THEFT, IT'S A POLITICAL ACT!
THE HAENEN POLÉMIC SURROUNDED IN THE COURT: "IT'S NOT A THEFT, IT'S A POLITICAL ACT! "
by V.A 09/12/2020
A simple case of theft of traffic signs turned Thursday in court into a historical-political pamphlet around the controversial character of Remy De Haenen.
The defendant is none other than Richard Lédée, known for his research on the history of Saint-Barth and particularly on the role of the island in the slave trade and slavery, when the island was Swedish. In 2019, he stole two signs belonging to the Collectivity: one mentioning "parking reserved for the territorial archives service", the other indicating the direction of Remy De Haenen airport. He then took a photo of himself with his theft, sent the image to elected members of the Territorial Council, then returned the brand new signs to their owner.
A militant “loan”
He was tried Thursday, December 3 for theft. "I wanted to denounce the use of the name Remy de Haenen given at the airport," he told the court. His lawyer Me Desailloud wants to explain the substance of the case, during a plea detailing the links between his client's family and the former mayor, as well as the controversy surrounding this character.
"It's not theft, it's a political act," she begins. "In no case has my client heard the panels stolen, which he carefully dismantled with the intention of returning them to the Collectivity. She first addresses the issue of the sign on the archives parking lot. "My client wanted the Community to become aware of the state of abandonment of the archives on our island. He is known for his very important work on the history of Saint-Barthélemy and his fight for the conservation and enhancement of our archives, which are our history, ”says the lawyer who herself grew up on the Isle. “They are scattered in metropolitan France, in Sweden, in Guadeloupe or in Saint-Barthélemy, where they are kept in inappropriate conditions. If nothing is done quickly, we will lose much of our history. This is the meaning of this loan. "
She referred the court and the courtroom to reading an article written by Richard Lédée on this subject. *
Me Desailloud comes to the second panel, stolen when it had just been installed. “My client wanted to recall the sulphurous character Remy de Haenen was, whose family of my client and others on the island suffered insults, insults and violence. She notes, citing a statement by Bruno Magras in 2015 when naming the airport, that the pilot who died in 2008 had negative sides and positive sides. “But unfortunately the dark side won. Remy de Haenen is the one who made his fortune by smuggling, who used his elected mandates to satisfy his personal interests. He was the representative of the National Front in Saint-Barthélemy in the 1986 elections, close to Jean-Louis Tixier Vignancour, famous lawyer of the OAS, and to the prefect Jacques Le Cornec whose mission was to do everything so that the West Indies do not not pass into the hands of the left and the separatists. He is also the one the Americans suspected of aiding German submarines in the region during World War II. "(JSB 1133, 1134, 1238)
Historical dispute
In front of perplexed but attentive magistrates, the lawyer goes on to what is customarily called "the events of June 1975". "Remy de Haenen was above all the one who set fire to the powder on June 6, 1975, the date of the insurrection of his opponents whom he wanted to muzzle by appealing to the prefect Le Cornec. He will have five opponents of Remy de Haenen arrested in Guadeloupe: Charles Querrard, Henri Gréaux, Nicolas Gumbs, Justin Gréaux and Robert Gréaux. During the trial held in 1976, the future mayor Charles Querrard was also accused of having obstructed the airport runway with his car. It will be shown at the hearing that the accusation was based on a false report from the gendarmerie. She then developed the enmity that began in the 1960s between the Lédée family and Remy De Haenen. "We too often forget to mention in history the first two pilots of Saint-Barthélemy, Georges Gréaux and Hippolyte Lédée (Richard Lédée's uncle, editor's note), who in 1961 founded the airline company WindWard Island. Both will be threatened and beaten by Remy de Haenen. Hippolyte Lédée was beaten up in 1960 by Rémy de Haenen during the prefect's visit, in front of weighty witnesses: the gendarmes present, the priest, Sully Magras, the mayor Alexandre Magras. She waved a copy of the letter Hippolyte Lédée wrote in 1960 to the public prosecutor of Basse-Terre, in which he reported his version of the incident. He adds that Mayor Remy De Haenen threatened to attack him as soon as he dared to take off with passengers. It also shows a letter written by Georges Gréaux for the attention of Hippolyte Lédée dit Faustin, in which the former details the threats he has received from the mayor. Georges Gréaux complains of being expelled from the island by General Councilor De Haenen.
"My client's family saw it as an affront to see every day the 35 road signs marked with the name of Remy de Haenen scattered throughout the island", concludes Me Desailloud. She regrets the "clumsiness" of her client, but stresses "that it was important for him to remind the Collectivity of this part of the story" and asks for her to be released.
A catilinaire who did not seem to thrill the magistrates too much. "Stealing a sign is theft, and it's 3 years' imprisonment," says the prosecutor, who requires a thirty-day fine at 30 euros (900 euros in total). The president, also skeptical of the romantic side of the mischief, will be a little more lenient: she sentences the accused to thirty days-fine at 20 euros, or 600 euros in total.
* On the website www.memoirestbarth.com, read “The long agony of the Swedish archives of Saint-Barthélemy”.
THE HAENEN POLÉMIC SURROUNDED IN THE COURT: "IT'S NOT A THEFT, IT'S A POLITICAL ACT! "
by V.A 09/12/2020
A simple case of theft of traffic signs turned Thursday in court into a historical-political pamphlet around the controversial character of Remy De Haenen.
The defendant is none other than Richard Lédée, known for his research on the history of Saint-Barth and particularly on the role of the island in the slave trade and slavery, when the island was Swedish. In 2019, he stole two signs belonging to the Collectivity: one mentioning "parking reserved for the territorial archives service", the other indicating the direction of Remy De Haenen airport. He then took a photo of himself with his theft, sent the image to elected members of the Territorial Council, then returned the brand new signs to their owner.
A militant “loan”
He was tried Thursday, December 3 for theft. "I wanted to denounce the use of the name Remy de Haenen given at the airport," he told the court. His lawyer Me Desailloud wants to explain the substance of the case, during a plea detailing the links between his client's family and the former mayor, as well as the controversy surrounding this character.
"It's not theft, it's a political act," she begins. "In no case has my client heard the panels stolen, which he carefully dismantled with the intention of returning them to the Collectivity. She first addresses the issue of the sign on the archives parking lot. "My client wanted the Community to become aware of the state of abandonment of the archives on our island. He is known for his very important work on the history of Saint-Barthélemy and his fight for the conservation and enhancement of our archives, which are our history, ”says the lawyer who herself grew up on the Isle. “They are scattered in metropolitan France, in Sweden, in Guadeloupe or in Saint-Barthélemy, where they are kept in inappropriate conditions. If nothing is done quickly, we will lose much of our history. This is the meaning of this loan. "
She referred the court and the courtroom to reading an article written by Richard Lédée on this subject. *
Me Desailloud comes to the second panel, stolen when it had just been installed. “My client wanted to recall the sulphurous character Remy de Haenen was, whose family of my client and others on the island suffered insults, insults and violence. She notes, citing a statement by Bruno Magras in 2015 when naming the airport, that the pilot who died in 2008 had negative sides and positive sides. “But unfortunately the dark side won. Remy de Haenen is the one who made his fortune by smuggling, who used his elected mandates to satisfy his personal interests. He was the representative of the National Front in Saint-Barthélemy in the 1986 elections, close to Jean-Louis Tixier Vignancour, famous lawyer of the OAS, and to the prefect Jacques Le Cornec whose mission was to do everything so that the West Indies do not not pass into the hands of the left and the separatists. He is also the one the Americans suspected of aiding German submarines in the region during World War II. "(JSB 1133, 1134, 1238)
Historical dispute
In front of perplexed but attentive magistrates, the lawyer goes on to what is customarily called "the events of June 1975". "Remy de Haenen was above all the one who set fire to the powder on June 6, 1975, the date of the insurrection of his opponents whom he wanted to muzzle by appealing to the prefect Le Cornec. He will have five opponents of Remy de Haenen arrested in Guadeloupe: Charles Querrard, Henri Gréaux, Nicolas Gumbs, Justin Gréaux and Robert Gréaux. During the trial held in 1976, the future mayor Charles Querrard was also accused of having obstructed the airport runway with his car. It will be shown at the hearing that the accusation was based on a false report from the gendarmerie. She then developed the enmity that began in the 1960s between the Lédée family and Remy De Haenen. "We too often forget to mention in history the first two pilots of Saint-Barthélemy, Georges Gréaux and Hippolyte Lédée (Richard Lédée's uncle, editor's note), who in 1961 founded the airline company WindWard Island. Both will be threatened and beaten by Remy de Haenen. Hippolyte Lédée was beaten up in 1960 by Rémy de Haenen during the prefect's visit, in front of weighty witnesses: the gendarmes present, the priest, Sully Magras, the mayor Alexandre Magras. She waved a copy of the letter Hippolyte Lédée wrote in 1960 to the public prosecutor of Basse-Terre, in which he reported his version of the incident. He adds that Mayor Remy De Haenen threatened to attack him as soon as he dared to take off with passengers. It also shows a letter written by Georges Gréaux for the attention of Hippolyte Lédée dit Faustin, in which the former details the threats he has received from the mayor. Georges Gréaux complains of being expelled from the island by General Councilor De Haenen.
"My client's family saw it as an affront to see every day the 35 road signs marked with the name of Remy de Haenen scattered throughout the island", concludes Me Desailloud. She regrets the "clumsiness" of her client, but stresses "that it was important for him to remind the Collectivity of this part of the story" and asks for her to be released.
A catilinaire who did not seem to thrill the magistrates too much. "Stealing a sign is theft, and it's 3 years' imprisonment," says the prosecutor, who requires a thirty-day fine at 30 euros (900 euros in total). The president, also skeptical of the romantic side of the mischief, will be a little more lenient: she sentences the accused to thirty days-fine at 20 euros, or 600 euros in total.
* On the website www.memoirestbarth.com, read “The long agony of the Swedish archives of Saint-Barthélemy”.
