Service d'Action Civique
Encyclopedia
The SAC officially created in January 1960, was a Gaullist militia founded by Jacques Foccart
, Charles de Gaulle
's chief adviser for African matters, and Pierre Debizet, a former Resistant
and official director of the group. Important members included Charles Pasqua
, part of the Gaullist movement and known as Jacques Chirac
's mentor, Etienne Léandri
, a friend of Pasqua, Robert Pandraud or Christian Fouchet
. The predecessor of the SAC was the service of order of the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (RPF) Gaullist party. The SAC was dissolved under François Mitterrand
's government in 1982.
, but its real leader was Jacques Foccart
, in charge of the African policy of France for several decades.
The SAC recruited among the Gaullist movement, but also in the organized crime
. Etienne Léandri
, a friend of Charles Pasqua, was thus a former Collaborationist, reconverted in illegal drug trade
and protected by the Central Intelligence Agency
for his anti-communist activities. Others famous gangsters of the time who were SAC members include Jo Attia or Christian David ("le beau Serge"). Some of these criminals had taken part in the Resistance during the war, and even been deported, thus creating lasting links with future politicians.
The SAC always was independent from the Gaullist party itself, directly representing General de Gaulle. The Parliamentary report published in 1982 talked of "God without the clergy" ("").
After de Gaulle's change of policy concerning the Algerian War (1954-1962) and his subsequent support of Algerian independence, many SAC members, supporters or outright activists of "French Algeria" resigned. Pierre Debizet, official director of the SAC, was replaced by Paul Comiti, a bodyguard of de Gaulle. General de Gaulle then sent the SAC against the Organisation armée secrète
(OAS) terrorist group which launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations to try to block the implementation of the March 1962 Evian agreements on a cease-fire with the National Liberation Front
(FLN).
, leader of the Moroccan opposition to King Hassan II and of the Tricontinental Conference. Furthermore, Jaqueline Hémard and Ali Bourequat
, "disappeared" under Hassan II, have accused the SAC of financing itself by drug trade with Morocco.
During May 1968, SAC members, disguised as ambulance
crew, took demonstrators to their headquarters, rue de Solférino, where they were beaten up. They then prepared the Gaullist counter-demonstration which assured de Gaulle of the support of (parts of) the French people
. After the June 1968 legislative election
, the SAC expelled from the Youth Centres ("Maisons des Jeunes") various movements and associations, including the Maoists and the so-called "Katangais". Continuing this "policy of order", the SAC created in 1969 the right-wing students' union Union Nationale Inter-universitaire
(UNI) in 1969 to counter the "leftist subversion" in the students' movement. Until 1976, the SAC supported the UNI in daily organisation, while many UNI members were also in the SAC. After 1976, double membership of most activists still existed, but the two organisations had different leadership.
Jacques Foccart called back Pierre Debizet to the head of the SAC during May 1968. Foccart excluded Charles Pasqua
in the beginning of 1969, suspecting him of trying to take control of the militia. Furthermore, Pierre Debizet decided to change the membership card, which looked too much like a police card, and requested of each member an extract of its judicial record. However, despite this cleaning-up of the organisation in 1968-69, between 1968 and 1981, SAC members have had problems with the law
for various reasons, including: "assault
(coups et blessures volontaires), illegal detention of fire-arms, fraud
, aggravated assault, money counterfeit
ing, pimp
ing, racketeering, arson
, blackmail
, illegal drug trade
, hold-up, abuse of trust (abus de confiance - i.e. corruption
), bombings, robberies and handling
, being a member of a criminal organisation (association de malfaiteurs), degradation of vehicles, use of stolen cheque
s, outrage to public morality
(outrage aux bonnes mœurs)."
Some SAC members have upheld a theory of the "two SAC" to defend themselves, alleging the coexistence, under the same appellation, of on one hand a group of staunchly right-wing Gaullist activists, often recruiting honourable persons (a magistrate, a certain amount of workers' activists often linked to " yellow trade-unions
" such as the CGSI, the CFT or the CSL), and on the other hand individuals located at the cross-roads between intelligence
activities, organized crime and far right
movements, used for the most shady actions.
In the 1970s, journalist Patrice Chairoff published in Libération
left-wing newspaper, founded by Jean-Paul Sartre
and others, a plan of the SAC envisioning the internment of leftists in stadiums. The document was attributed to the Marseillese Gérard Kappé, a lieutenant of Charles Pasqua who claimed it was a forgery.
One of the main roles of the SAC, although not well known, was the surveillance
of the Gaullist party. The departmental responsible of the SAC was a de jure member of the departmental committee of the Union des Démocrates pour la République
(UNR), then of the Union des Démocrates pour la République
(UDR) and Rally for the Republic
(RPR) (successive incarnations of the Gaullist party), even though he was often not an adherent of the Gaullist party. It is through this tight network covering France that Jacques Foccart was very well informed. On many times, the notes communicated to Pierre Debizet by his departmental responsibles permitted to push out of the Gaullist party elected (or not) officials of the party suspected of some illegal activities, before having the French justice
take care of it.
According to Daniele Ganser (2005), in 1975, the SAC had as president Jacques Chirac
, who later became prime minister several times before being elected president in 1995
.
in May 1981, troubled because of local rivalries in his organisation. Jacques Massié, a police inspector and local responsible of the SAC, was accused of corruption by those who assassinated him. He was in reality a competent police officer, who was to take the leadership of the SAC in the Bouches-du-Rhône
with the support of Debizet. Some time afterward, Massié and all of his family were massacred on the night of July 18, 1981 in what is known as the "Auriol massacre". A few weeks later, his murderers were arrested. Pierre Debizet was interrogated by the police, but eventually released without being charged of anything. The five SAC members of the Auriol commando were condemned on May 1, 1985 to sentences between 15 years of prison and life-sentences; however, the mastermind behind inspector Massié's murder was never identified.
The Auriol massacre took place after the 1981 election
of François Mitterrand
, candidate of the Socialist Party (PS). It was the first victory of the left-wing since the 1958 establishment of the Fifth Republic
by De Gaulle. The parliamentary majority decided to found a parliamentary commission, in which right-wing deputies refused to sit. The Commission, however, did not request the dissolving of the SAC. But the National Assembly discussed it anyhow, and Mitterrand disbanded the SAC in 1982, using the law allowing the President of the Republic to disband combat groups and private militias.
, future Interior Minister, created the "Solidarité et défense des libertés" organisation ("Solidarity and Defense of Freedoms"), which gathered RPR and Union for French Democracy
(UDF) members, former SAC activists and even some members of far-right movements such as the "Parti des forces nouvelles
" (PFN, Party of the New Forces). This descendant of the SAC was quickly dissolved. After the 1982 bombing of the rue Marbœuf, it organised a demonstration during which activists of the Centre national des indépendants et paysans (CNIP) and of the PFN distinguished themselves.
Furthermore, Pierre Debizet created the Mouvement Initiative et Liberté (MIL, Movement of Initiative and Freedom) after the May 1981 presidential election, but before the dissolving of the SAC in 1982. Rather than a resurgence of the SAC, it was thus more a parallel structure of the UNI estudiantine trade-union, which was supposed to assist SAC activists in finding more mainstream, professional activities, by entering the estudiantine movement.
In the early 1980s, the SAC also had some front organisations, such as the private security firm VHP Security, which had as subsidiary
KO International Company, charged of the personal security of Jean-Marie Le Pen
, leader of the far-right National Front (FN). Ante Gotovina
, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
on charges of war crimes, had worked before for KO International Company.
Jacques Foccart
Jacques Foccart was a chief adviser for the government of France on African policy as well as the co-founder of the Gaullist Service d'Action Civique in 1959 with Charles Pasqua, which specialized in covert operations in Africa.From 1960 to 1974, he was the President of France's chief of staff...
, Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's chief adviser for African matters, and Pierre Debizet, a former Resistant
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
and official director of the group. Important members included Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
, part of the Gaullist movement and known as Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's mentor, Etienne Léandri
Etienne Léandri
Étienne Léandri was an intermediary close to Charles Pasqua. He took part in the negotiations concerning many important international contracts, and represented, among others, the interests of Elf, Thomson CSF and Dumez.-Inventor:...
, a friend of Pasqua, Robert Pandraud or Christian Fouchet
Christian Fouchet
Christian Fouchet was a French politician.He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines.He was the French Minister of National Education from 28 November 1962 to 6 April 1967. He was the colonial head of Algeria from 19 March 1962 to 3 July 1962....
. The predecessor of the SAC was the service of order of the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (RPF) Gaullist party. The SAC was dissolved under François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
's government in 1982.
Foundation during the Algerian War
The SAC was officially created as a 1901 law association on 4 January 1960, in the proclaimed aim of providing unconditional support to de Gaulle's policy. It was then officially directed by Pierre Debizet, a former ResistantFrench Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, but its real leader was Jacques Foccart
Jacques Foccart
Jacques Foccart was a chief adviser for the government of France on African policy as well as the co-founder of the Gaullist Service d'Action Civique in 1959 with Charles Pasqua, which specialized in covert operations in Africa.From 1960 to 1974, he was the President of France's chief of staff...
, in charge of the African policy of France for several decades.
The SAC recruited among the Gaullist movement, but also in the organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. Etienne Léandri
Etienne Léandri
Étienne Léandri was an intermediary close to Charles Pasqua. He took part in the negotiations concerning many important international contracts, and represented, among others, the interests of Elf, Thomson CSF and Dumez.-Inventor:...
, a friend of Charles Pasqua, was thus a former Collaborationist, reconverted in illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and protected by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
for his anti-communist activities. Others famous gangsters of the time who were SAC members include Jo Attia or Christian David ("le beau Serge"). Some of these criminals had taken part in the Resistance during the war, and even been deported, thus creating lasting links with future politicians.
The SAC always was independent from the Gaullist party itself, directly representing General de Gaulle. The Parliamentary report published in 1982 talked of "God without the clergy" ("").
After de Gaulle's change of policy concerning the Algerian War (1954-1962) and his subsequent support of Algerian independence, many SAC members, supporters or outright activists of "French Algeria" resigned. Pierre Debizet, official director of the SAC, was replaced by Paul Comiti, a bodyguard of de Gaulle. General de Gaulle then sent the SAC against the Organisation armée secrète
Organisation armée secrète
The Organisation de l'armée secrète was a short-lived, French far-right nationalist militant and underground organization during the Algerian War . The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence...
(OAS) terrorist group which launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations to try to block the implementation of the March 1962 Evian agreements on a cease-fire with the National Liberation Front
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
(FLN).
1960s: May 1968 and the "disappearance" of Mehdi Ben Barka
After this period, which saw the longtime Gaullists quit the organisation, the SAC began to recruit more and more from underworld groups. It then became involved in all sorts of shady moves and covert actions for the Gaullist party. It has been suspected of participating in 1965 in the "disappearance" in Paris of Mehdi Ben BarkaMehdi Ben Barka
Mehdi Ben Barka was a Moroccan politician, head of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces and secretary of the Tricontinental Conference...
, leader of the Moroccan opposition to King Hassan II and of the Tricontinental Conference. Furthermore, Jaqueline Hémard and Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat
Ali Bourequat was a French citizen of Moroccan origins living in Rabat, Morocco. He is a writer and former forcibly disappeared. As a successful businessman, he came from a rich family of Turkish origin close to the court of king Hassan II....
, "disappeared" under Hassan II, have accused the SAC of financing itself by drug trade with Morocco.
During May 1968, SAC members, disguised as ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
crew, took demonstrators to their headquarters, rue de Solférino, where they were beaten up. They then prepared the Gaullist counter-demonstration which assured de Gaulle of the support of (parts of) the French people
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
. After the June 1968 legislative election
French legislative election, 1968
- National Assembly by Parliamentary Group:...
, the SAC expelled from the Youth Centres ("Maisons des Jeunes") various movements and associations, including the Maoists and the so-called "Katangais". Continuing this "policy of order", the SAC created in 1969 the right-wing students' union Union Nationale Inter-universitaire
Union Nationale Inter-universitaire
Union Nationale Interuniversitaire or "Inter-University Union" is a French right-wing union of university students, created in February 1969 under the initiative of the Service d'Action Civique, a secret service used by the right-wing gaullist movement, in particular by Robert Pandraud, Charles...
(UNI) in 1969 to counter the "leftist subversion" in the students' movement. Until 1976, the SAC supported the UNI in daily organisation, while many UNI members were also in the SAC. After 1976, double membership of most activists still existed, but the two organisations had different leadership.
Jacques Foccart called back Pierre Debizet to the head of the SAC during May 1968. Foccart excluded Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
in the beginning of 1969, suspecting him of trying to take control of the militia. Furthermore, Pierre Debizet decided to change the membership card, which looked too much like a police card, and requested of each member an extract of its judicial record. However, despite this cleaning-up of the organisation in 1968-69, between 1968 and 1981, SAC members have had problems with the law
Justice in France
In France, judges are considered civil servants exercising one of the sovereign powers of the state, and, accordingly, only French citizens are eligible for judgeship. France's independent judiciary enjoys special statutory protection from the executive branch...
for various reasons, including: "assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
(coups et blessures volontaires), illegal detention of fire-arms, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, aggravated assault, money counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
ing, pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
ing, racketeering, arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
, illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
, hold-up, abuse of trust (abus de confiance - i.e. corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
), bombings, robberies and handling
Handling
Handling stolen goods is the name of a statutory offence in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. It takes place after a theft or other dishonest acquisition is completed and may be committed by a fence or other person who helps the thief to realise the value of the stolen goods...
, being a member of a criminal organisation (association de malfaiteurs), degradation of vehicles, use of stolen cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
s, outrage to public morality
Public morality
Public morality refers to moral and ethical standards enforced in a society, by law or police work or social pressure, and applied to public life, to the content of the media, and to conduct in public places...
(outrage aux bonnes mœurs)."
Some SAC members have upheld a theory of the "two SAC" to defend themselves, alleging the coexistence, under the same appellation, of on one hand a group of staunchly right-wing Gaullist activists, often recruiting honourable persons (a magistrate, a certain amount of workers' activists often linked to " yellow trade-unions
Company union
A company union is a trade union which is located within and run by a company or by the national government, and is not affiliated with an independent trade union. Company unions were outlawed in the United States by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, due to their use as agents for interference...
" such as the CGSI, the CFT or the CSL), and on the other hand individuals located at the cross-roads between intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
activities, organized crime and far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
movements, used for the most shady actions.
In the 1970s, journalist Patrice Chairoff published in Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
left-wing newspaper, founded by Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
and others, a plan of the SAC envisioning the internment of leftists in stadiums. The document was attributed to the Marseillese Gérard Kappé, a lieutenant of Charles Pasqua who claimed it was a forgery.
One of the main roles of the SAC, although not well known, was the surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
of the Gaullist party. The departmental responsible of the SAC was a de jure member of the departmental committee of the Union des Démocrates pour la République
Union des Démocrates pour la République
The Union for the Defence of the Republic or Union of Democrats for the Republic , commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist political party of France from 1968 to 1976....
(UNR), then of the Union des Démocrates pour la République
Union des Démocrates pour la République
The Union for the Defence of the Republic or Union of Democrats for the Republic , commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist political party of France from 1968 to 1976....
(UDR) and Rally for the Republic
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic , was a French right-wing political party. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic , it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullism...
(RPR) (successive incarnations of the Gaullist party), even though he was often not an adherent of the Gaullist party. It is through this tight network covering France that Jacques Foccart was very well informed. On many times, the notes communicated to Pierre Debizet by his departmental responsibles permitted to push out of the Gaullist party elected (or not) officials of the party suspected of some illegal activities, before having the French justice
Justice in France
In France, judges are considered civil servants exercising one of the sovereign powers of the state, and, accordingly, only French citizens are eligible for judgeship. France's independent judiciary enjoys special statutory protection from the executive branch...
take care of it.
According to Daniele Ganser (2005), in 1975, the SAC had as president Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, who later became prime minister several times before being elected president in 1995
French presidential election, 1995
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic.The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election in a...
.
The 1982 Auriol massacre and the dissolving of the SAC
Pierre Debizet, responsible of the SAC, arrived in MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
in May 1981, troubled because of local rivalries in his organisation. Jacques Massié, a police inspector and local responsible of the SAC, was accused of corruption by those who assassinated him. He was in reality a competent police officer, who was to take the leadership of the SAC in the Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
with the support of Debizet. Some time afterward, Massié and all of his family were massacred on the night of July 18, 1981 in what is known as the "Auriol massacre". A few weeks later, his murderers were arrested. Pierre Debizet was interrogated by the police, but eventually released without being charged of anything. The five SAC members of the Auriol commando were condemned on May 1, 1985 to sentences between 15 years of prison and life-sentences; however, the mastermind behind inspector Massié's murder was never identified.
The Auriol massacre took place after the 1981 election
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
of François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, candidate of the Socialist Party (PS). It was the first victory of the left-wing since the 1958 establishment of the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
by De Gaulle. The parliamentary majority decided to found a parliamentary commission, in which right-wing deputies refused to sit. The Commission, however, did not request the dissolving of the SAC. But the National Assembly discussed it anyhow, and Mitterrand disbanded the SAC in 1982, using the law allowing the President of the Republic to disband combat groups and private militias.
Successors of the SAC
After the 1982 dissolving of the SAC, Charles PasquaCharles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
, future Interior Minister, created the "Solidarité et défense des libertés" organisation ("Solidarity and Defense of Freedoms"), which gathered RPR and Union for French Democracy
Union for French Democracy
The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...
(UDF) members, former SAC activists and even some members of far-right movements such as the "Parti des forces nouvelles
Parti des forces nouvelles
Parti des forces nouvelles or Party of New Forces was a French far right political party formed in November 1974 from the Comité faire front, a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front .-Development:...
" (PFN, Party of the New Forces). This descendant of the SAC was quickly dissolved. After the 1982 bombing of the rue Marbœuf, it organised a demonstration during which activists of the Centre national des indépendants et paysans (CNIP) and of the PFN distinguished themselves.
Furthermore, Pierre Debizet created the Mouvement Initiative et Liberté (MIL, Movement of Initiative and Freedom) after the May 1981 presidential election, but before the dissolving of the SAC in 1982. Rather than a resurgence of the SAC, it was thus more a parallel structure of the UNI estudiantine trade-union, which was supposed to assist SAC activists in finding more mainstream, professional activities, by entering the estudiantine movement.
In the early 1980s, the SAC also had some front organisations, such as the private security firm VHP Security, which had as subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
KO International Company, charged of the personal security of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, leader of the far-right National Front (FN). Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina
Ante Gotovina is a former Senior Corporal of the French Foreign Legion and former Lieutenant General of the Croatian Army who served in the Croatian War for Independence...
, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
on charges of war crimes, had worked before for KO International Company.
In popular culture
- Films
- The Day of the JackalThe Day of the Jackal (film)The Day of the Jackal is a 1973 Anglo-French film, set in August 1963 and based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, it stars Edward Fox as the assassin known only as "the Jackal" who is hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle.- Synopsis :The film opens...
directed by Fred Zinnemann (1973) - Le Juge Fayard dit Le Shérif directed by Yves Boisset (1977)
- J'ai vu tuer Ben Barka directed by Serge Le Péron (2005)
- L'Affaire Ben Barka directed by Jean-Pierre Sinapi (2007)
- The Day of the Jackal