‘My wife is no terrorist’

Press, 13 February 1986, Page 1

‘My wife is no terrorist’

By

KAY FORRESTER

Joel Prieur, the husband of the Rainbow Warrior bomber, Dominique Prieur, cannot understand why his wife is called an international terrorist. To him a terrorist is someone who kills with a complete disregard for life.

He is adamant that his wife is not such a person.

“She was an officer acting under orders,” he emphasised in Christchurch yesterday, after visiting his wife at Christchurch Women’s Prison where she is in maximum security serving the 10-year sentence she was given for her part in the bombing of the Greenpeace protest vessel.

“She is not an international terrorist. I cannot understand why the New Zealand media call her that. In my work as a fireman in Paris I see international terrorism, I have to cope with it. “I see the people tom .and killed by bombs set to deliberately kill them, in this affair they took every precaution to avoid death. Pereira was killed because he went back on board and was drowned. He was not killed by the explosion. The bomb was not meant to kill.

“They could have blown up the boat at sea and killed everybody. They didn’t do that. That would have been international terrorism. But they were careful not to kill.” Mr Prieur will leave Christchurch today for France. He has spent the last two weeks in the city visiting his wife each day, except Sundays, with his mother-in-law, Mrs Renee Maire, who accompanied him from France. For - Mrs. Maire, seeing her < greftt relief."-She hadlmaglhed her . alone, depressed, and ; crying. Mrs Maire, who does

not speak English, said through her son-in-law that she had last seen her daughter in April. She had been relieved to find her well.

Mr Prieur said his wife was “fine. She has no choice. But she has accepted that and is coping with it “When I married Dominique she told me what her job was and she asked me not to ask questions about that. I respected that — I still do — and I have not asked,” Mr Prieur said. Surely since the affair has become international news he had questions he wanted to ask? — No. For him, the separation, broken only by five-min-ute telephone calls once a

week and this visit is a risk that is part of his wife’s job as a military officer. While he accepts the risks — “she is a spy, a secret agent, yes” — he is relieved that on her release she will no longer be. “It is over, finished.” The separation has been difficult, more so because Mr Prieur is able only to wait and see what happens about any transfer of his wife to France for part of her sentence.

Any negotiations are at Government level and Joel Prieur is anxious not to become involved in the political arena. He is anxious also to build bridges, but without accepting any blame. ■ - “You must understand what it is like in France. There is a constant threat, a gun at the head. For France the nuclear bomb is the thing that will stop, will deter, another war. “Many people remember war. My mother-in-law saw her family shot by the Germans. We have had: three invasions in a-. century. ' No-one..' wants that again, and defence is very important.

“In France we call New Zealand and Australia the lucky countries, paradises, because they are so far away from everything. You must understand it is

different in France.” He does not want New Zealanders and French to be set against each other. Reports describing his wife as a terrorist encouraged that. So did reports, such as that in this week’s “Truth,” which told of rumours about a team of crack French commandos loafing on Sumner beach until the signal came from Paris to spring Prieur from Christchurch Women’s Prison. When shown that report yesterday, Mr Prieur laughed: “Impossible. It would be incredible."

Mr Prieur said his wife had begun a correspondence course in English from Massey University. Alain Mafart was studying Spanish in Paremoremo. “He is already fluent in English.” Mr Prieur will visit Mafart today if the prison authorities allow it. “It would be a shame to come this far and not to visit him,” he said. Prieur has had regular visits from the honorary French consul, a New Zealander, in Christ-

church and from two French. persons living here. For her husband’s visit she was given special visiting arrangements so that they could see each other each day. Normally prisoners are allowed visitors only on Saturday. “I had to bargain for the time to see her. For anything else the rules for everyone are the rules for her.”Mr Prieur hopes to visit his wife again, perhaps in May.„.He, ; hopes also, that the; French Government . win egain foot the bill. " ‘ In- the:meantime, It is back to work — and to wait.