Death of Robert Badinter: “He was a great figure of the ideal of justice” according to the mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse

Pour Michaël Delafosse, Robert Badinter était “une grande figure de l'idéal de justice”. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Le maire de Montpellier, le socialiste Michaël Delafosse, rend hommage à Robert Badinter, disparu ce vendredi 9 février.

What does the figure of Robert Badinter evoke for you ?

He was a great figure of the ideal of justice. Who implemented the project that Victor Hugo had described in The last day of a condemned person. And he was, of course, the man behind the abolition of the death penalty.

He is a moral figure who knew, including in recent times, how to speak out to denounce the excesses which can sometimes fuel democratic debate, and to recall the fundamental principles of right. 

When I received the national prize for secularism, in Paris, he received a special prize. Élisabeth Badinter recalled that evening that both, as early as 1989, had called for clarity on the ban on the veil at school. Robert Badinter was also this very committed to secularism. And in the service of republican universalism.

Which Robert Badinter will you remember ?

The man who, from the podium of the National Assembly, abolished the death penalty. This speech is exceptional in its political eloquence, its power in the face of history, it raised the consciousness of our humanity.

Was it a foundation in your commitment to politics ?

When you are on the left, he is clearly a reference. It will stay that way for a long time. I already see people pleading for him to enter the Pantheon. It will be up to debate when the time comes.

It is unanimous today…

And yet! He heard the boos from the right, the hatred from the extreme right. It is a life of commitment, also for the defense of the rule of law, at the Constitutional Council which he chaired. But the power of the great French people generates this capacity to unanimously salute their memory.

As at the time of the death of Jacques Delors ?

Exactly. Two great figures of the left have disappeared: one embodied European commitment, the other the ideal of justice and the strength of the law. They are now inscribed in our collective memory like landmarks.  And command us to act in fidelity, to experience them as a source of inspiration. Otherwise the tributes will be hypocritical.

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