Dominique Prieur

Dominique Prieur (born 1949) is a French military officer who was convicted of manslaughter over her part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.[1] Prieur is the first woman to be a French secret agent.[2]

Biography

Prieur joined the military in 1974 and was recruited as a secret agent in August of 1977.[3]

Prieur was a controller in the intelligence-gathering and evaluation wing of the DGSE, acting as Christine Cabon's controller. She was a specialist in European peace movements. Prieur entered New Zealand on a Swiss passport issued to her alias of "Sophie Turenge", posing as the wife of Alain Mafart. She took part in the operation that bombed and sank the Rainbow Warrior, killing the photographer Fernando Pereira.

In order to sink the ship, Prieur and Marfart went to Auckland Harbour and attached two explosive devices to the Rainbow Warrior.[4] They delivered bombs to frogmen to plant on the ship.[1]

They were arrested by New Zealand police. She and Mafart, they were originally charged with murder, but they both pleaded guilty to charges of the manslaughter of Pereira and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 22 November 1985.[5] After serious political pressure from France and her allies,[6] the New Zealand government agreed to a United Nations arbitration ruling in July 1986 that saw her transferred to French custody on the island of Hao in French Polynesia.

Prieur's husband, Joel Prier, an employee of the Defense Department was stationed at Hao shortly after she was exiled there.[7] On 6 May 1988 she was returned to France because she was pregnant.[7] Like Mafart, she never returned to Hao. Both agents returned to France heralded as heroes.[8] In 1989, she was promoted to Major.[9]

She has since been promoted to the rank of Commandant. Although a UN Arbitration panel found that France had breached its obligation to New Zealand several times by removing the agents from Hao, and failing to return them, it rejected an appeal by New Zealand to have Mafart and Prieur returned because the term they should have spent there had already lapsed.

Prieur published a book "Agent secrète" (Secret Agent) in 1995 concerning her role in the bombing.

In 2005, Prieur and Marfart appealed to the New Zealand Supreme Court to stop footage of their guilty pleas being shown on television.[10] The supreme court allowed the footage to go on the air.[10]

In 2008, Prieur was hired temporarily for eight months as the director of human resources for the Paris Fire Brigade, a unit of the French Army.[11][12]

References

  1. 1 2 Astier, Henri (8 July 2005). "French Expat Recalls NZ Bombing". BBC News. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Dejevsky, Mary (18 June 1995). "Attack on Boat Still Haunts Secret Agent". Independent. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Guisnel, Jean (7 July 1995). "Dominique Prieur. L'agente secrète refait surface et écrit. En 1985, la DGSE la charge de préparer l'attentat contre le «Rainbow Warrior». Dix ans plus tard, l'ancienne". Liberation (in French). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Hackett, Peter (2 July 2005). "Anniversary of an Act of Terror". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via EBSCO. (subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ "Greenpeace Bombers". Logansport Pharos Tribume. 22 November 1985. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "At the end of the Rainbow - National - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  7. 1 2 "France Ends Agent's Exile". Cedar Rapids Gazette. 7 May 1988. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Spy: French Leader Ordered Sinking". Daily Herald Suburban Chicago. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ Trahair, Richard C. S.; Miller, Robert L., eds. (2009). Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations (revised ed.). Enigma Books. p. 304. ISBN 9781929631759.
  10. 1 2 "Ship Bombers Lose TV Appeal". Gold Coast Bulletin. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via EBSCO. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Staff (4 January 2009) "Fresh Start for Saboteur" Sunday Mail (South Australia) p. 29
  12. ↑ "Rainbow Warrior: Where Are They Now?". New Zealand Herald. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
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