'Alfred Dreyfus, a synthesis of the martyr and the just man, deserves to enter the Panthéon'
During his years in the penal colony (1895-1899), a massive intellectual and political campaign formed to bring the truth to light, led by his brother Mathieu, the writers Bernard Lazare, Emile Zola and Charles Péguy, and Socialist leader and journalist Jean Jaurès. Dreyfus (1859-1935) became an emblematic figure.
For a long time, he was seen as an "uninspiring officer," a passive symbol of innocence, as journalist Philippe Collin recalled in his podcast on the France Inter radio station, Alfred Dreyfus, le combat de la République ("Alfred Dreyfus: The Fight for the Republic"). His exoneration in 1906, after his pardon in 1899, restored his honor, but not without an injustice: The government failed to acknowledge his years in the penal colony in his career progression. He resigned but continued to publicly defend the truth of his innocence. He reenlisted from 1914 to 1918. He died in 1935.
Faithful to republican principles
For a long time, collective memory glorified the Dreyfusards, his supporters, but left Dreyfus himself relegated to the status of mere victim of state conspiracy and antisemitic plotting – especially as, after the traumas of the wars and the Holocaust, heroism gave way to the sacralization of victims. "The victim has become the new figure of the hero," wrote François Azouvi in Du héros à la victime. La métamorphose contemporaine du sacré ("From Hero to Victim: The Contemporary Transformation of the Sacred").
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
French prosecutors demand Fiat face trial in diesel scandal
French prosecutors have demanded Italian car maker Fiat face trial on fraud charges over the emissions-tampering scandal that struck German giant Volkswagen. It is the fourth trial demanded in France against major car makers after cases against Volkswagen and the French companies Peugeot-Citroen and Renault. A source close to the case who asked not to be named said on Wednesday, July 16, that the Paris prosecutors' office made the demand on June 30 accusing Fiat of aggravated fraud. The source said the Italian company is accused of selling Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep vehicles fitted with diesel engines that "frequently exceeded the regulatory threshold for nitrogen oxide emissions," highly dangerous to humans, between 2014 and 2017. The scandal has caused waves in the global car industry since September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted tampering with millions of diesel vehicles to dupe pollution tests. A German court in May convicted and handed prison sentences, some suspended, to four former Volkswagen managers over their part in scandal. Filing their case against Volkswagen in February, French prosecutors said nearly one million French customers had to pay for servicing and repairs after the emissions breach was revealed.
Fashion Network
2 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Italy cracks down on sweatshops feeding Loro Piana, Armani, Dior
For two years, prosecutors have sought to reform an export model where premium brands sell Italian fashion abroad at luxury prices, even as inexpensive workshops proliferate around Milan, flouting labor standards in Italy's capital of style. The crackdown, led by Milan's corporate court and the labor-crimes unit of the Carabinieri military police, has snared contractors linked to five well-known fashion labels including Valentino, Armani and Dior. Loro Piana, owned by French luxury powerhouse LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, became the latest on Monday, and was placed under court supervision for up to a year. 'There is already a reputational issue in the fashion industry, which started with prices spiraling unreasonably,' said Stefania Saviolo, a lecturer on fashion and luxury management at Milan's Bocconi University. 'These investigations not only damage the brands involved, they affect all of Made in Italy as a system.' Loro Piana, part of LVMH since 2013, denied wrongdoing and said it will cooperate with authorities. The company said it terminated relations with the supplier within 24 hours of being informed of the contractors' existence. The fragmented, mostly family-run structure of high-quality Italian manufacturing 'can pose challenges in transparency and oversight,' said Toni Belloni, president of LVMH Italy. The group has strengthened controls and revised its internal charter, he said in a statement to Bloomberg News. 'However, areas of fragility remain, so we must work to improve our practices.' The fashion industry is one of Italy's biggest, accounting for about €96 billion worth of Made in Italy products in 2024, according to industry group Camera Nazionale della Moda. The vast majority are destined for overseas markets. Yet the tailor's case shines a light on the treatment of workers who make garments that can cost thousands. He worked from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily through late 2024, when his 'caporale,' or boss — also a Chinese transplant — stopped paying him for unknown reasons, according to the court documents. After repeated demands for his wages, a confrontation ensued. The employer punched the tailor and beat him repeatedly with an aluminum tube, the documents said, leading to a criminal complaint. Past enforcement efforts have failed to stamp out labor abuses. 'These cases have been increasing in the last few years, with more big groups taking control of smaller Italian companies and starting outsourcing part of the production,' said Roberta Griffini, secretary for the Filctem CGIL Milano union. Responsibility is sometimes hard to determine because subcontractors work for more than one fashion group, Griffini added. The UK has also cracked down on illegal sweatshops, particularly small factories operating in cities such as Leicester. A 2021 UK report found companies in numerous industries couldn't guarantee their supply chains were free from forced labor. For fashion producers in Italy, the supply chain should be short and closely monitored, said Saviolo of Bocconi University. Younger consumers in particular are paying more attention to brand credibility. Milan is the locus of the sprawling fashion industry in Italy, housing about one-fourth of the nation's 600,000 fashion workers across some 60,000 companies, according to Camera Nazionale della Moda. The Lombardy region's dense ecosystem of design studios, tanneries and sample makers gives brands unrivaled speed but also shelters what prosecutors called 'a generalised manufacturing method' in which legitimate subcontractors parcel out work to micro-factories operating from converted garages and semi-legal industrial parks. Chinese-owned firms make up a significant part of this complex. About 20% of Lombardy's 10,000-plus textile workshops and factories are Chinese-owned, according to Milan's Chamber of Commerce. The area has drawn a large number of Chinese immigrants, driven by small-business opportunities, globalization of the fashion industry and growing family ties. The judicial clampdown in Italy is unfolding against a jittery global backdrop, with demand falling and a US-led tariff war threatening to magnify export costs. The personal luxury-goods industry, worth €364 billion, lost 50 million customers in 2023 and 2024, Bain estimated last year. The sector will shrink between 2% and 5% this year, according to the consulting firm's June follow-up. Italy's fashion industry was already grappling with falling sales, inflation and international tensions. Brands squeezed by softer demand and volatile costs have doubled down on 'near-shoring' quick orders to Lombardy's workshop belt to protect margins. That very strategy, say prosecutors, is fueling the race to the bottom that the courts are now trying to halt. Investigators traced Loro Piana's knitwear to intermediaries which subcontracted to factories where illegal migrants worked 90 hours a week and slept next to their sewing machines. The judges said the firm 'negligently benefited' from illegal cost-cutting. The judicial administrator appointed Monday is tasked with monitoring Loro Piana management's progress toward addressing its supply chain. The issues have been similar at other luxury brands, including Giorgio Armani Operations, Dior Manufactures, Valentino Bags Lab and Alviero Martini: opaque layers of small subcontractors, paper safety records and a workforce of mostly undocumented Chinese migrants. Armani, Dior and Alviero Martini were released of court oversight after implementing measures such as real-time supplier audits. The unit of Valentino, which is owned by Kering SA and Qatar's Mayhoola, is still subject to court monitoring. The Italian Competition Authority has also been involved. In May it closed an unfair-practices probe into Dior, securing €2 million in funds for anti-exploitation initiatives and requiring the company to improve supplier vetting. Dior noted then that no infringement was established, and said it is dedicated to high standards of ethics and excellence. Armani Group, still under investigation by the competition authority over alleged unfair commercial practices, said the allegations have no merit and its companies are cooperating with authorities. In Milan, coordination has tightened with an accord in May between the Milan Prefecture, the fashion chamber, trade unions and leading brands. The pact sets up a shared database of vetted suppliers and commits signatories to regular certifications. The outcome of the Loro Piana case for now rests with updates to the bench on its progress. As for the tailor, the Milan prosecutor is now trying to get him hired legally, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing a personal matter. This would require the employer to make pension contributions, pay taxes and provide standard benefits.
AFP
3 hours ago
- AFP
Calgary Stampede police advisory published in Canada's official languages
"The old Canada is gone. Police now has to ask foreigners in other languages not to r@pe people," says a July 13, 2025 post on X. The post includes a screenshot of an article with the headline: "Police warned Stampede-goers of sexual assault in Arabic, Hindi." The screenshotted text says the Calgary Police Service (CPS) issued written warnings in the two languages as part of a public safety campaign before the Calgary Stampede, an annual rodeo exhibition and festival in Alberta's largest city. Similar claims appeared on X and Facebook, with some posts implying that the advisories were not presented in English or French. Image Screenshot of an X post taken July 14, 2025 Image Screenshot of a Facebook post taken July 14, 2025 The posts spread after a series of stabbings disrupted the event July 8, according to a press release and local media reports (archived here). Previously, a 2023 class-action lawsuit alleging that Calgary Stampede allowed a performance school staffer to sexually abuse students prompted lawmakers to call for more accountability from all levels of government. As Canada's years-long immigration consensus has broken down, AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation accusing newcomers of committing crimes or unfairly exploiting social benefits. The latest posts claiming that police specifically urged Arabic and Hindi speakers to avoid committing sexual assault are similarly misleading. The headline in the posts comes from an article from Juno News, a current-events blog founded by leaders from the conservative alternative media outlets True North and The Counter Signal -- the latter of which has previously propagated misleading claims (archived here). In the article, the word "Arabic" links to a series of messages CPS shared on X covering event safety and predatory behavior. The first post in the thread is written in English, however (archived here). The connected posts repeat the same information in 11 other languages, including Arabic, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Image Screenshot of an X thread taken July 15, 2025 Despite the claims online, a message in Hindi does not appear in the thread. Punjabi -- which uses similar characters and is also widely spoken in India -- is featured. The mention of "Hindi" in the article links to a personal X account that reshared a separate CPS information campaign, which was also broadcast in English, Punjabi and Arabic (archived here). The Juno News article is behind a paywall, so AFP was not able to review whether the text goes on to explain that the campaign was also shared in Canada's official languages. But the social media posts sharing the headline did not include this context. CPS told AFP it often translates social media posts to reach as many residents as possible with its messaging. "We typically translate communications in English and 12 additional languages, which are chosen based on the literacy rates of Calgarians," the service said in a July 14 email. AFP found other CPS information campaigns covering sexual assault, a police impersonation scam and elder abuse, all shared in several languages including English and French (archived here, here and here). CPS also told AFP it shared the messaging about sexual consent in an effort to raise awareness during large events, which can create higher risk for assault. Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
