2 French Agents Get 10 Years in Ship Bombing

This nation’s highest judge sentenced two French secret agents to 10 years in prison today for manslaughter in the bombing of the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior. He said the punishment is meant to deter terrorism.

Maj. Alain Mafart, 35, and Capt. Dominique Prieur, 36, also received seven years each for willful damage to the ship, which was blown up and sunk in Auckland Harbor on July 10.

“The courts must make it plain that persons coming into this country cannot expect a short holiday at the expense of the government and return home as heroes,” said Sir Roland Davison, chief justice of the Auckland High Court.

Concurrent Sentences

Davison ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.

The Rainbow Warrior was sunk by mines, and a Greenpeace photographer, Fernando Pereira of the Netherlands, was killed in the blast.

Greenpeace, an international environmental group, had sent the ship to New Zealand to lead a protest flotilla against French nuclear tests in the Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific.

Brad Giles, one of three defense lawyers for the agents, told reporters that it is “much too early” to talk about whether there will be an appeal. “We must sit down and assess it in a quiet and reasoned way.” The defendants have 10 days to appeal.

Can Seek Parole in 5 Years

They are eligible for parole after serving five years.

The two French agents stood impassively in the dock as the sentence was pronounced. They were immediately led through a trapdoor in the floor to cells below the courtroom. They were then taken by police van back to the prison where they have been held since their arrest.

Prieur looked over at her husband Joel, a Paris fireman, as she left the court.

The maximum possible sentence for manslaughter is life in prison.

Prosecutors dropped murder, conspiracy and arson charges against the agents at a preliminary hearing, and the agents pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of manslaughter and willful damage to the ship.

Speculation on a Deal

The surprise move fueled speculation that New Zealand had struck a deal with France, but New Zealand’s Prime Minister David Lange said the agents “are not for sale.”

The government can deport convicted aliens, but only after all legal avenues have been exhausted.