Transcript
WZ: Pouvanaa a Oopa, who was a fierce opponent of French colonial rule, had become the vice-president of the local government. In the aftermath of a local vote in 1958, he and his sympathisers were accused of planning to burn down Papeete. In 1959, Pouvanaa was jailed for eight years and exiled to France for 15, before being pardoned by then French President Charles de Gaulle in 1968 and allowed to return to Tahiti. He resumed his political career and in 1971 he became a member of the French Senate. He died in 1977, shortly before his 82nd birthday.
BRD: Why was his conviction quashed now and not earlier?
WZ: For one, the case had been closed. Pouvanaa himself, and after his death his family, had tried to overturn the conviction. The highest court of appeal rejected their bid in 1995. However, clamour for Pouvanaa's rehabilitation never stopped and in 2012 in the final weeks of his presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy said that the archives would be opened. That raised the hopes of a retrial.
BRD: And what did reveal?
WZ: The historian analysing the material, Jean-Marc Regnault, found that some records had been destroyed, but he noted two plots against Pouvanaa, one because the French state viewed him as being a communist and two the local elite feared for its privileges. To eliminate him from the political scene, it emerged, police fabricated testimonies or they extracted under threat of violence comments to incriminate Pouvanaa. It was also revealed that the French governor posted a note of Pouvanaa's arrest for burning down Papeete while he was still free and the fire had not yet been set.
BRD: How was this information received?
WZ: It formed enough of a basis to consider reopening the case. This was done in 2014 by the then French justice minister Christiane Taubira, who was urged to do so in a motion unanimously supported by French Polynesia's assembly. The Solicitor General agreed the new evidence cast doubt on the fairness of the trial. And so in July, in what is a rare occurrence, the court of revision reconsidered the case. And it has now struck out his conviction.
BRD: Has there been any reaction?
WZ: His rehabilitation is huge relief among his grandchildren and other relatives. One of them said it was a day of joy and pride. She said Pouvanaa always believed that the truth would come out one day and she said this outcome is the biggest present he could have had.
Now Pouvanaa is of course well remembered. In front of the territorial assembly is a statue in his honour and a main avenue in Papeete is named after him along which you find both the French High Commission and the court.
