By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS (Reuters) -The grave of former French justice minister Robert Badinter was desecrated on Thursday, hours before President Emmanuel Macron is set to dedicate a cenotaph in his memory in a Paris mausoleum, one of the highest honours in France.
“Shame on those who sought to tarnish his memory. Tonight, he will enter the Pantheon, the eternal home of conscience and justice. The Republic is always stronger than hatred,” Macron wrote on social media platform X.
The Pantheon is a central Paris mausoleum where some of France’s most prominent national heroes are buried.
Badinter, who died in 2024 aged 95, is best remembered for leading the abolition of the death penalty in France and fighting for the decriminalisation of homosexuality when he was justice minister in the 1980s.
The graffiti that desecrated his tomb in Bagneux, a town just south of Paris, targeted his legacy on both the death penalty and the decriminalisation of homosexuality, Bagneux Mayor Marie-Helene Amiable said.
The city of Paris has reported the desecration to the prosecutor’s office, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on social media site Bluesky.
In the Pantheon, Badinter’s cenotaph will join the likes of philosopher Voltaire, writer Victor Hugo and scientists Pierre and Marie Curie in the monument’s vast, vaulted crypt, which has been used to host the remains of great figures since 1791.
The cenotaph will contain his legal gown, three books that he cherished, and a copy of his most famous speech, the Élysée Palace said.
Badinter’s body will remain in the Jewish section of the Bagneux cemetery.
(Writing by Dominique Vidalon and Ingrid Melander; editing by Inti Landauro, Sharon Singleton and Mark Heinrich)
