French Espionage Cases

Levin Daily Chronicle, 11 May 1918, Page 1

French Espionage Cases

THE BONNET-ROUGE AFFAIR. COURT-MARTIAL OPENED.

PABIIS, April 29. The court-martial on the notorious "Bonnet Rouge" gang has opened. There are seven defendants, including Duval, charged with trading in intelligence with the enemy, and Marion, charged with duplicity with Duval, and with publishing documents concerning the defence of the country. The witnesses include four ex-Ministers, MM. Malvy, Viviani, Caillaux, and Painleve. The trial is expected to throw an important light on M. Malvy's alleged connection with German spies and the transmission to Germany of plans of tho Ghampagne offensive.

Commenting on the scandal at the time when it was first made public, the Paris correspondent of a London paper wrote: The action taken by the French authorities in the "Bonnet Rouge" ease has led to the destruction of one of the enemy's strongest sources of help in this country. A perusal of the files of that sordid sheet shows that ever since 1915 it has been busied in the enemy interest by the advocacy of peace and through the encouragement of seditious pessimism, and also indirectly by every means. The disguised German was its special protege and Great Britain was its special enemy. It seems incredible, 011 reading through the articles it published that the clcarance was not effected sooner. The Bonnet Rouge was a Paris evening newspaper to be found on every kiosk of the Boulevard ,and, what is perhaps more significant, it acquired its customers in the trenches. Connected with it, either through the editorial staff, the management, or by similarity of inspiration, were tho Trancheo Bepublicaine and Les Nations, the "Primo" and tlx ' Bepublicaine' news agencies. Through Miese channels, and through the mild-->r medium of tho Carnet de la Scmaine and Le Pays, the philosophy of defeat, or at least of Sovietism, has been preached steadily. Be-acting to the spur of M. Clemenceau, the Government have now taken action. They arrested Vigo, alias Almeyreda, editor-in-chief of the Bonnet Rouge, since mysteriously dead in prigon; Duval and Marion, managers of the same newspaper; and Joucla, an employee of the concern; and the military authorities have suspended until further orders the 1 nublication of fhe Bonnet Bouge, the Tranchee Bepublicaine, and Les Nations. The Minister of the Interior, M. Malvy, whose duty it was to protect the country and the army against tho poison of this gang has resigned. | He could not well do otherwise. He was acquainted with Vigo. Ho had, moreover, given him moneys from the ' Secret Service Fund, and of Vigo's I life the most definite record is that contained in the Gazette des Tribunaux, which is as follows: —"Vigo was sentenced to two month '3 imprisonment in IDOO for theft; in 1901 to a year's imprisonment for the manuraciure or explosives, to three years for incitement to murder; and in 1908 to three yearsimprisonment for insulting the Army* and in 1910 he was arrested for and convicted of attempted sabotage. Vigo in all this German campaign was bur a puppet. He was entirely without education, and it is more than doifbtJu" whether he was able to write t"ie articles he signed. Ho has gone the way of all puppets, and lies in his grave. The articles signed by M. Badin were clever, diabolically and ironically clever, and very German. M. Badin, at any rate at some moments of his career, had his pen guided by Duval, the manager of the Bonnet Rouge, who now awaits his trial.