I Mantini - Brûler la paillote

Описание: Bernard Bonnet was named as prefect of Corsica by Jean-Pierre Chevènement (Minister of the Interior) on 1998-02-09, just three days after the assassination of his predecessor Claude Erignac. His role, as announced by Chevènement, was to "Restore the state of law", and he quickly showed a firm hand against nationalist groups. He was particularly uncompromising in his use of Article 40 of the Code of Penal Procedure, which obliges civil servants to denounce any illegal activity of which they are aware.

His style brought protests from Corsican politicians, but were generally well received on mainland France. In a session of the Corsican Assembly on 1998-10-31, he was asked ironically by members of the Corsica Nazione group "when he was leaving": he replied that it would be "when your friends stop racketeering, when your friends stop the assassinations at village festivals, when your friends stop planting explosives."

Bernard Bonnet's career came to an abrupt end in 1999 with the "Affair of the Beach Huts". On the night of 1920 April 1999, two illegally constructed beach restaurants were destroyed in an arson attack at Cala d'Orzo, south of Ajaccio. Bonnet initially suggested that the attack was a result of a disagreement between armed separatist groups (a common occurrence in Corsica at the time), but the police investigation quickly indicated that the fire had been started by a group of gendarmes from the elite Groupe de peloton de sécurité (GPS). A walkie-talkie, a compass, a blood-stained balaclava and several jerrycans which had contained petrol were discoved buried in the sand of the beach on 23 April, while a badly-burned patient had been anonymously admitted to the Rangueil University Hospital in Toulouse, transferred from the neighbouring military hospital.

Bonnet was arrested on 3 May and flown to Paris for questioning: he was held in prison on remand (détention préventative) for two months. After a trial in Ajaccio, he was found guilty of conspiracy to arson (complicité de destruction de biens appartenant à autrui par l'effet d'un incendie) on 2002-01-10 and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, two of which were suspended, and three years deprivation of his Civil Rights.

Bonnet appealed against his conviction, first to the Court of Appeal in Bastia, which rejected the appeal on 2003-01-15, and then to the Court of Cassation, France's highest court, which rejected his petition on 2004-10-13. His request for a Presidential pardon was rejected by Jacques Chirac in March 2005. Nevertheless, Bonnet never returned to prison as he was Granted Probation by a Paris judge on 2006-06-09, a decision confirmed on appeal on 2006-10-12. Neither was he ever sacked from the civil service: he was suspended after his arrest in May 1999, and retired on a normal pension in October 2006.
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I Mantini - Brûler la paillote

A tous les gendarmes dAjaccio même dailleurs,
Je voudrais dire ces quelques mots cest vous les meilleurs,
Vous vouliez un état de droit tout feu tout flamme,
Mais fallait pas oublier les jerricanes,
Brûlez la, la brûler, brûlez la paillote,
Par la mer ils sont arrivés,
Le G P S super entraîné,
Ils ont mis le feu en sautant à lenvers,
La tête en bas non cest pas des paroles en lair,

Refrain

On avait peur que Bonnet reste pour longtemps,
On se souvient ce quavait dit Chevènement,
"Cest lhomme quil faut là où il faut",
Comme Broussard il est parti un peu plus tôt,

Refrain

Ils ont quand même laissé trop de traces,
A mon avis les gars cest une grosse arnaque,
Enfin Bonnet tu fais tes valises et tu te casses,
Reprend si tu veux le reste de ton Zodiac,

Refrain

A tous les enfants de ma cité et même dailleurs,
Si les gendarmes vous arrêtent un jour par erreur,
Pour un feu rouge peut-être brûlé,
Répondez-leur que cest eux qui ont commencé,

Refrain

Et cest ainsi chez nous cest pas pareil ailleurs,
Cest ce que létat français a fait de meilleur,
Se trouver la juste pour le plaisir,
Ce soir là je peux dire quils nous ont fait plaisir.

Refrain