Dominique Prieur
Encyclopedia
Dominique Prieur is a French military officer who was convicted of manslaughter over her part in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
.
Prieur was a DGSE controller in the intelligence-gathering and evaluation wing, 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
.
After her arrest by New Zealand
police, along with her colleague Mafart, she pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter of Fernando Pereira
and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 22 November 1985. Because of the UN ruling in the arbitration between New Zealand and France (July 1986) she was deported to the island of Hao
in French Polynesia.
On 6 May 1988 she was returned to France because she was pregnant (her husband was allowed to join her on Hao). Like Mafart, she never returned to Hao. 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) concerning her role in the bombing.
In 2009, Prieur was hired as the director of human resources for the Paris Fire Brigade
, a unit of the French Army
.
Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure , carried out on July 10, 1985...
.
Prieur was a DGSE controller in the intelligence-gathering and evaluation wing, acting as Christine Cabon
Christine Cabon
Christine Cabon is a French military officer best known for her part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.Cabon, then aged 33, a Lieutenant in the French Army and working for the DGSE, infiltrated the Greenpeace under the name of "Frederique Bonlieu" to gain information about the proposed berthing...
'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
Alain Mafart
Alain Mafart is a French military officer best known for his part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.Mafart was a DGSE agent and deputy commander of the French Navy Training Centre in Corsica...
. She took part in the operation that bombed and sank the Rainbow Warrior, killing the photographer Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace on July 10, 1985 .The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship...
.
After her arrest by New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
police, along with her colleague Mafart, she pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter of Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace on July 10, 1985 .The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship...
and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 22 November 1985. Because of the UN ruling in the arbitration between New Zealand and France (July 1986) she was deported to the island of Hao
Hao (French Polynesia)
Hao, or Haorangi, is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it Harp Island....
in French Polynesia.
On 6 May 1988 she was returned to France because she was pregnant (her husband was allowed to join her on Hao). Like Mafart, she never returned to Hao. 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) concerning her role in the bombing.
In 2009, Prieur was hired as the director of human resources for the Paris Fire Brigade
Paris Fire Brigade
The Paris Fire Brigade , is a French Army unit which serves as the fire service for Paris and certain sites of national strategic importance....
, a unit of the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
.