National tribute to Robert Badinter: “Your name must be inscribed in the Pantheon” says Emmanuel Macron
It was today that France paid a final tribute to Robert Badinter. The lawyer and former Minister of Justice who initiated the abolition of the death penalty died on February 9 and the national tribute was held at Place Vendôme in Paris, where the Ministry of Justice is located. “
Your name must be inscribed in the Pantheon
,” launched Emmanuel Macron during the eulogy for the former Minister of Justice.
The arrival of Robert Badinter's coffin on Place Vendôme in Paris where France paid a final tribute to the instigator of the abolition of the death penalty on February 14, 2024. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
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The name of Robert Badinter “
must be inscribed
” in the Pantheon, “
alongside those who have done so much for human progress and for France
”, announced Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday during the tribute to the former Minister of Justice . “
You are leaving us at a time when your old adversaries, oblivion and hatred, seem to be advancing again
,” launched the President of the Republic from Place Vendôme, headquarters of the Ministry of Justice where the former socialist minister supported the abolition of the death penalty. He praised Robert Badinter as “
a force that lives and snatches life from the hands of death
”.
Emmanuel Macron had promised to express himself, in his speech, on a possible entry of the lawyer, who
died last week at the age of 95, into the Pantheon
, this republican temple which proclaims on its pediment “To the great men, The grateful Nation ".
And Robert Badinter was indeed “
a great man
”, the president agreed on Friday after the announcement of the death of the former minister (1981-1986). “
These things take time
,” he stressed. “
It is firstly up to the family, at liberty, to take the time they deem necessary to make a decision
,” Emmanuel Macron’s entourage explained on Tuesday.
Place Vendôme, a symbolic place
The first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure officially made the request to the Head of State. “
It’s legitimate
” because in the Pantheon it is “
the great men who brought great ideas
,” said Wednesday on franceinfo the president of the Constitutional Council Laurent Fabius, a position occupied by Robert Badinter from 1986 to 1995.
Also read Death of Robert Badinter: “A figure of the century, a republican conscience, the French spirit”
The Élysée, in consultation with the family, chose a symbolic place to pay tribute to the memory of Robert Badinter: Place Vendôme, in front of the chancellery, where several thousand people have come since Saturday to pay homage to him. A giant portrait of Robert Badinter was installed in front of the ministry. It was there that François Mitterrand's minister drafted the law abolishing the death penalty, in a France then predominantly in favor of the supreme punishment.
(
With
AFP)
Guest FranceDeath of Robert Badinter: “He was interested in the condemned but he also advanced the rights of victims”
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