What's up at home today...?

I talk about it, because this affair is public now, and because i don't want to see such guys and such things in the military forces of my country...

Note: In order to comply with French laws, the following doesn't include any personal comment or opinion, considering that the defendant is presumed innocent until a court judge him guilty.

I shall remind simply the motto of the French Navy, "Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline", still thinking that these words always have a sense for the immense majority of the soldiers who serve there.

So, the following is the condensed translation of today's posts from national newspapers as "Le Figaro", "Libération", "Le Monde" and also from the main source, French press agency AFP.

Considering the lot of work, i did the translation by using Google translator, Reverso and Linguee. I've check it quickly after. When i'll found some errors, i'll edit this post as one goes along, until that "final release" will appear in the reasons of editing. Nevertheless, i guess that it's understandable enough right now. Of course i guess there's a lot of reading, but such things had to be said.










The trial of Eric DELEPOULLE, former commander of the frigate La Fayette, a flagship of the Navy, opens on Monday at the Criminal Court of Marseille. It is judged for bullying after the suicide aboard of one of his NCOs.

The case is rare. Not so much because of the charge, harassment, against a senior officer of the Navy, or the drama that would follow, the suicide of one of his young subordinates, but because the case has transpired off the army's sealed walls to come to light, to justice.(Underscored by me. Nikita)¹. Monday morning, Eric DELEPOULLE, former commander of the frigate La Fayette, a flagship of the Navy, faced the 8th military correctional Chamber of the Criminal Court of Marseille, after the suicide aboard of Petty Sebastian Wanke in June 2010.

Pasha of the "hell's boat", described by the majority of his crew as a "tyrant" follower of punishments and humiliations, Éric Delepoulle is also pursued for "degradation of the working conditions which can strike a blow at the right, at the dignity and at the health of others". He incurs on one year of imprisonment and 15.000 euros of fine.²


In the first line of bullying

The NCO Sebastian Wanke was 32 ​​years old, ten years of duty in the Navy, his passion, his "childhood dream" said his family. He is the butler of the commander DELEPOULLE. His handyman whose missions range from the maintenance of his room and his clothes in the supervision of the kitchen, the table service in the work of all kinds but also in the service of "square commander", bringing together six most senior officers. Requirement, availability of all times. "Sebastian could not breathe, he was always on a war footing, he slept very few", says the second master Arnaud Mille, colleague of the deceased. Above all, he is at the forefront of bullying that seem to characterize the commander DELEPOULLE.

Sebastian Wanke hangs in the night of 14 to 15 June 2010 while the warship was off the coast of Sicily, at the end of eight months of mission in the Indian Ocean, and within three days of his return to the military port of Toulon. He is found in the commander's "coqueron", a premises at the front of the ship, used to store wine and spirits reserved to the commander for meals and receptions.


Hopes dashed

A few days earlier, on June 8, Sebastian Wanke discovers his notation for 2010. Only a single point more. Small price to pay for the young man saturated of tasks. Hope disappointed for his advancement, for his wedding plans with Céline in September, for the credit for the apartment they had just acquired.

The 75 testimonies of the crew of the frigate, a workforce of 153 people, officers and men involved in attest : under the command of Eric DELEPOULLE they have "been through hell". "He is presumed innocent ... but not for long" prophesy sources familiar with the matter. The statement is overwhelming. If the internal command investigation, managed by the Navy, reveals nothing about the responsibility of DELEPOULLE, the preliminary investigation, it conducted by the Maritime Gendarmerie of Toulon at the request of the prosecutor, puts him widely involved.(Underscored by me. Nikita)³


Catastrophic atmosphere

The atmosphere on board is "catastrophic", "terrible", denounced the sailors constantly "under pressure" increasingly sought, ever reprimanded. A book of demands of punishments lists 78 demands from July to December 2009 , and 36 demands in five months in 2010. Another book, "occult", have even mentioned punishments pronounced "pending", reflecting the "evil" and "psychopathy" of the commander, says Jean-Jacques Rinck, lawyer of Sebastian Wanke family. First mate Gutehrle imself, who often confront with DELEPOULLE, denounces this situation. While the ship is in port in Kenya, he even asked to be landed, just like four captains which have taken place since 2008. An even more abnormal sign when we know that, in the Navy, these positions change only every three years on average. A "silent" mutiny even occurs in 2009, when the crew expresses a collective refusal to celebrate the passage of the line of Ecuador, as is an ancient tradition of the Navy. In 2009, the Quartermaster J. made ​​a suicide attempt. Upon his return, he will be punished for this "autoagressif act that caused an inability to work for more than one month ".

The testimony of the ship's doctor, Stéphane Crépeau, is instructive. According to him, DELEPOULLE was "imbued with his person", "obtuse", "thinking himself God on board", considering the crew as his "little people", "obstinately ignoring the problems" pointed by the first mate, at the risk of "doing dangerous things" and "jeopardize the safety of the crew". In his report, he concludes: "What counts is his person, his stars, his career, and he is ready to pass besides the resistance of his men to make a success".


The officer and his lawyer rejected the accusations

The investigation revealed some others deviances of the "Pasha": the great train he led the expense of the army rather personal joys. At the beginning of the procedure, the Public Prosecution Office engaged proceedings for "diversion or dissipation by serviceman of money or objects presented during the service". In harbor and sea, receptions and cocktails succeeded in extravagance of food and cases of champagne, up to 200 guests of private sphere: banker, accountant, plumber, family, friends, religious, judges of the Court of Appeal..., detailed evidence of the proceedings. "All this for private purposes unrelated to any mission influence of the French Navy, as he attempts to defend", Me Rinck squeaks.

If they reject all charges as a whole, Eric DELEPOULLE and his lawyer Me. Watchi-Fournier keep silence today. Forties, married with six children, the accused is now far from the sea. "We withdrew the command of the ship but he was decorated with the Legion of Honour and promoted to General Staff of the armed forces, where he is project manager of new technologies in the domain of armaments", growls a soldier who knowns him. Sebastian Wanke family claims 190,000 euros in compensation for non-pecuniary damage, 150,000 euros for pain and suffering and 300,000 euros in compensation for "loss of chance of survival", explains his lawyer.





The Criminal Court of Marseille examined on Monday the case of a naval commander, Eric DELEPOULLE, charged with harassment, after the suicide by hanging in June 2010 of a non-commissioned officer who served as a butler on board a frigate whose atmosphere had become unbearable.

Deputy Attorney Emmanuel Merlin required a year's imprisonment , "with possible suspension" and 6,000 euro fine, while regretting that the maximum penalties under the criminal code (one year in prison and 15,000 euros fine at the material time, two years and 30,000 euros today , ed) "does not seem to do justice to what happened".

Arrived at Court in civilian dress, dark mine, Eric DELEPOULLE, 43 years old, has quietly acknowledged the plaintiffs already sitting in the courtroom, blowing a "hello" lip service, no response.

After noting his civilian dress contrary to the "principles", President Lucie Chapuis-Berard extensively questioned the accused, reviewing the many testimonies of the instruction describing the terrible atmosphere prevailing on board this "hell's boat" frigate "La Fayette".


Under the command of "Louis XIV"

More than 70 witnesses interviewed during inquiry have almost all the same story : a "feel terrible" , "continuous pressure" under the command of an officer "thinking himself God on board" or "Louis XIV"⁴ and out with his subordinates.

It's in this context that the petty officer Sébastien Wanke, 32 years old and native of Saône-et-Loire, butler of commanding square and thus in direct contact with the commander), "in first line to undergo the raggings", according to Me. Jean-Jacques Rinck, the lawyer of the family, had been found hung on board.on June 15, 2010.

According to the investigation, he faced for one and a half year in an "overwhelming rhythm and workload", 15 hours a day, organizing and serving the meals for the officers, the table service, cleaning the apartments of commander, and even realizing painting works besides his operational loads. The whole with, according to the words of investigating judge, a level of requirement "excessive, even excessive, in the point to take on a real persecutory aspect".

Shortly before the drama, he had also received his notation, correct but matched of a disastrous appreciation blaming him "a lack of investment".
" It is the final trigger after 18 months of hell ", estimated Me. Merlin who reminded the numerous prestigious meals that Sébastien Wanke had to organize, still increasing his workload.

This affair is "revealing of an archaic and reactionary command system" pleaded for the plaintiffs Me Rinck, who wished "to replace the drama in its context", that "of a furtive frigate, real submarine of surface" with "153 crew members living in closed door": A place where "everything says itself, everything comes out ".

"He was the only one of all the fleet not to know" that the atmosphere was terrible, says the lawyer.

To the court, Eric Delepoulle, became attached to justify everything: the tense atmosphere? "Redrawing the atmosphere over 18 months by saying that it was a long quiet river does not reflect the strict truth", he says by euphemism.

The workload? Sébastien Wanke would have "proposed himself" for the painting works, he suggested.

The poor notations of a part of the sailors? "Specific directives" by the hierarchy. That one of Sébastien Wanke? It was proposed by assistant commanders. "If you did not agree, it was necessary to correct it", the president puts back in place.

"I am really very affected by all which passed ", broke the officer, today in the general staff, on a neutral tone. "That Wanke hated me, I saw it, I see it well now, I had no this perception during my command", he still justify himself.

His lawyer, Me Pierre-André Watchi-Fournier, pleaded the discharge of his customer, considering that this one had been "separated from his base" and implicating first mate and his "perverse" behavior in the deterioration of the atmosphere on board.

Mister Delepoulle, also pursued for similar facts against another sailor, master Olivier Berger, a head chef who developed a psoriasis, will know his fate on January 20th.






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1 : In 2010, the internal Navy investigation had totally exonerated the accused. (Source: La voix du nord)

2 : Since 2010, the law did evolve and today, the incurred punishment for such facts is doubled, so 2 years imprisonment and 30.000 euros of fine, but it's not retroactive.

3 : In such a case, requested by the prosecutor, the French Maritime Gendarmerie has similar prerogatives to those of the US NCIS .

4 : Maybe to be understood as an allusion to the famous quote by king Louis XIV, nicknamed "The absolute monarch": "The State, it's me!"

Thank you Nik

Well Snow, you see, maybe i'm stupid to take such things too much in heart, but it is necessary to understand that here, we are very involved with the Navy. Lorient is a naval base, the frigate La Fayette was built here, by people who are proud of what they do, doubtless also numerous crew members are native of the region and the Navy is since a very long time an integral part of the local life. Personally, and as far as the facts are proved true, i feel that as a stain and an insult to those, military and civilians crew of the Navy, who have a certain idea of the duty and a high consciousness of the exemplary nature of their behavior. That's all.

A team of divers discovered the remains of the Nazi submarine U -168 , a submersible German fighter destroyed several Allied ships before being torpedoed and sunk in 1944. The submarine had inside the skeletons of at least 17 crew members who were killed in the wreck . Moreover, among the remains found were plates bearing swastikas , batteries , binoculars and a bottle of hair oil

The discovery was made earlier this month north of the island of Java (Indonesia ) by a group of divers from the National Archaeological Center after being warned by local divers . Bambang Budi Utomo , head of the research team said , "It is an extraordinary finding that will certainly provide useful information about what happened in the Java Sea during World War II . "

This type of submarines were sent by the Nazis from Europe to settle in the eastern stations provided by the Japanese. However, of the 14 that were sent , only four returned to Europe .

The submarine found, the U -168 , left France in July 1943 and arrived in Penang in November the same year. After serving in several battles , the U -168 was sunk after midnight on October 6, 1944 in the Java Sea by a Dutch submarine torpedo , leaving 23 dead and 27 survivors.

Full translation of the original post by Ouest France


Also BBC post here



General Paul Aussaresses , defender of torture in Algeria, has died at the age of 95 years.




General Aussaresses, who had clearly assumed his behavior of torturer during the war in Algeria, died Wednesday announced on its website the association of former paratroopers "Who Dares wins".


Torture, "legitimate when urgently needed"

General Aussaresses was convicted in 2004 of condoning torture and excluded from the Order of the Legion of Honor.

In 2001, he admitted in his book "Special Services, Algeria 1955-1957" (Perrin), having committed torture, "tolerated , if not recommended" by politicians, he said. For him, it "becomes legitimate when urgently needed." These confessions, accompanied by interviews in the press, had caused a political storm.



At the head of a "death squad" in 1957

In 1957, General Aussaresses finds himself at the head of what he calls himself a "death squad" responsible for conducting nightly arrests followed by torture, with elimination of certain detainees.

"Is that torture has caused me problems? I have to say no. I was used to all this", he asserted in the early 2000s. Aussaresses has always claimed that his acts were committed with the approval of his superiors and political authority.

Edit: The worst thing is that it's true somewhere. It certainly does not excuse acts of torture perpetrated without qualms by Aussaresses and others, but no doubt that the political and military authorities at the time were aware of the existence of these acts of torture and too often played ignorance. No wonder this hypocrite ostrich policy when we know that what happened in Algeria did not even have the right to be called "war"...



No Sir, i don't agree with this. Maybe you were a soldier sometimes, but by committing these acts you claim, you become a criminal, because torture is a crime and because French laws allows a soldier to disobey any illegal order. Saying that you did it for France because the country demanded it is too much easy. You did it certainly because of superior orders, from a certain France, but don't forget all the people in France who clearly said no. At least, don't claim your actions on their behalf.

Recently, for four weeks, the annual campaign for the best long range sharpshooter (TELD Tireur d'Elite Longue Distance) of French special forces took place on the Naval Commando base of Arta, in Djibouti.

Jointly organized by the Naval Commandos units de Montfort and de Penfentenyo, this annual campaign has involved nine teams of six French special forces units representing de Montfort, de Penfentenyo, Hubert (Navy), CPA 10 (Air force), 1st RPiMA (ground army) and GIGN (gendarmerie).


Credit: Marine Nationale


Making unanimity within these units for the diversity of scenarios and the wealth of lessons learned, the TELD Arta campaign is unique in several aspects. It takes place in an arid desert environment. Demanding and changing wind conditions (heat, light, humidity, wind, dust) are very close to the conditions encountered in the theater of operations. Finally, the Arta base take advantage of the many shooting fields of French forces in Djibouti that allow the use of weapons at all distances and in all shooting configurations. Shooters can be put in complex tactical situations to test their technical skills in a challenging environment and using their physical and intellectual resources. By example among others, the pairs of shooters had mission to destroy, in constrained time, a missile position and neutralize its missile gunner, after studying a case of information including datasheets and human intelligence.



Credits: Marine Nationale



And the winner is...