Jacques Vergès

Jacques Vergès French pronunciation ʒak vɛʁʒɛs 5 March 1925 15 August 2013 was a FrenchAlgerian lawyer of Vietnamese origin and anticolonial activist Vergès began as a fighter in the French Resistance during World War II under Charles de Gaulles Free French forces After becoming a lawyer he became well known for his defense of FLN militants during the Algerian War of Independence He was later involved in a number of controversial and highprofile legal cases with a series of defendants charged with terrorism serial murder crimes against humanity and war crimes This includes Nazi officer Klaus Barbie the Butcher of Lyon in 1987 terrorist Carlos the Jackal in 1994 and former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan in 2008 He also defended infamous Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy in 1998 as well as members of the BaaderMeinhof gang As a result of taking on such clients he garnered criticism from members of the public including intellectuals BernardHenri Lévy and Alain Finkielkraut political activist Gerry Gable and Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld Vergès attracted widespread public attention in the 1950s for his use of trials as a forum for expressing views against French colonial rule in Algeria questioning the authority of the prosecution and causing chaos in proceedings a method he promoted as rupture defense in his book De la stratégie judiciaire He was imprisoned for his activism in 1960 and temporarily lost his license to officially practice law He was a supporter of the Palestinian fedayeen in the 1960s He would later disappear from 1970 to 1978 without ever explaining his whereabouts during that period An outspoken antiimperialist he continued his vocal political activism in the 2000s including opposing the war on terror The media sensationalized his activities with the sobriquet the Devils advocatenote 2 and Vergès himself contributed to his notorious public persona by such acts as titling his autobiography The Brilliant Bastard and giving provocative replies in interviews such as Id even defend Bush But only if he agrees to plead guilty Description above from the Wikipedia article Jacques Vergès licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia