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18m ago

Robert Badinter Enters the Panthéon After His Grave Is Vandalized in Bagneux

A criminal probe follows the profanation of his grave hours before the ceremony.

Robert Badinter fera son entrée au Panthéon ce jeudi 9 octobre 2025, jour de l’anniversaire de l’abolition de la peine de mort. La cérémonie se déroulera en fin d’après-midi.
Former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter, author of the abolitionist law in France, delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in France, at the Pantheon in Paris, France, October 9, 2021. EPA-EFE/Ian Langsdon/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
L’ancien ministre de la justice Robert Badinter et sa femme Élisabeth rendent hommage à Condorcet à l’occasion des 20 ans de l’abolition de la peine de mort., le 9 octobre 2001.
FILE - Former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter attends a ceremony at The Cour de Cassation, France's highest judicial court at the Paris courthouse, in Paris, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, pool, File)

Overview

  • Bagneux officials reported hostile graffiti on Robert Badinter’s tomb Thursday morning targeting his stands against the death penalty and for the decriminalization of homosexuality.
  • The Nanterre prosecutor opened an investigation for profanation of a burial site and assigned it to the Hauts-de-Seine territorial police, while officers secured the area and municipal teams removed the tags.
  • President Emmanuel Macron condemned the act on X, joining a broad chorus of political leaders across parties; Paris City Hall also notified prosecutors seeking accountability.
  • A symbolic coffin will travel to the Panthéon at 5 p.m., with an approximately one‑hour ceremony from about 6:30 p.m. featuring readings and music, a presidential address, and placement in the ‘revolutionaries of 1789’ vault; Badinter’s remains stay in Bagneux.
  • The chosen date coincides with the 1981 final act abolishing capital punishment, underscoring Badinter’s legacy that also includes the 1982 decriminalization of homosexuality and other rule‑of‑law reforms.