Robert Badinter persuaded France to abolish the guillotine
The man who fought to abolish the death penalty in France died on February 9th, aged 95
What clothes do you wear to be killed in? What clothes do you wear to witness someone die? This was what was worrying Robert Badinter as he dressed on that cold, dank November morning in 1972. It was 3am and he was going to La Santé prison to witness his client, Roger Bontems, be guillotined. Ridiculous, really, to worry about clothes. They cut the collar off the condemned man’s shirt anyway: it helped the blade to fall better. And yet he hoped Bontems would get his own shirt back. To die in that hideous prison suit seemed somehow terrible. Badinter chose his own clothes with care, too: a dark suit. A pale shirt. A plain tie. For a lawyer to witness his client be guillotined, a little politesse was surely necessary.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “His old enemy”
From the March 2nd 2024 edition
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