A Modern Parable

The father of Anne-Lorraine, Philippe Schmitt, had sent a letter announcing the Mass at Senlis Cathedral, and thanking those who prayed for Anne-Lorraine. He added this commentary, as reported by Yves Daoudal:

"The loss of a loved one is always very painful, but it was the circumstances of Anne-Lorraine's death that are devastating to us. We do not dare to imagine the 'horror movie' that took place inside that closed car of the RER, line D.

"Without hatred, but with determination, we are entitled to ask: Why was such an individual, already convicted of sexual assaults, able to repeat his crime? In 5, 10, 15 years, everyone knows he will be free again. As an fifty-year old man he will have all the free time to start over. I tremble already for your daughters, I am worried for Béatrice and Bénédicte. In the weeks ahead, so that Anne-Lorraine's sacrifice may not in vain, this will be my fight. I indeed owe her that..."

Note: Béatrice and Bénédicte are his two other daughters, NOT characters from Shakespeare as I had originally assumed. Apologies for this error and thanks to the reader who enlightened me.

Second Note: Another inforgiveable error of mine has been corrected, thanks to a reader. I had written "80-year old man". This has been corrected to "50-year old" which also makes much better sense.

An article dated November 30 in Le Figaro Magazine paints a glowing portrait of Anne-Lorraine, her high level of intelligence and culture and the ease with which she would have entered the world of journalism, a world sorely in need of people of her quality. The article then turns to the killer:

On January 25 1995, Thierry Dève-Oglou, 43, had raped at knifepoint, a 26-year old student in a car of the RER D between Survilliers-Fosses and Orry-la-Ville. Then, the victim, who did not resist, survived the attack. Arrested, the man was tried in criminal court and sentenced to five years in prison, two of them without parole.

Registered in August 2005 in the national registry of sex offenders, he had never, according to a judicial source, "displayed troubling behavior." The fact remains that this repeat offender, who admitted the act and was placed under investigation, completely baffles the investigators of the Versailles gendarmerie who were placed in charge after the judiciary police were taken off the case. Indeed, how could this criminal with his shabby appearance and complex personality have been able to commit an act at the same spot, in the same train? Has he committed other acts since his release from prison? The gendarmes have directed their inquiry along these lines.

Incarcerated, friendless, isolated, living with his parents who are very old, he admits to "having viewed a pornographic movie before getting on the RER and yielded to his impulse." And to have repeated the same scenario, unto nausea, unto horror.

Le Salon Beige wonders:

Beyond the abject crime committed by this man, you have to ask yourself to what extent the judges who freed him, the porn merchants and even the politicians who allow such porn bear the responsibility.

And I wonder about the train. It isn't clear if there was only one car or several. Are these cars so sealed that passengers cannot see what is happening in an adjoining car? On Sundays and especially in bad neighborhoods, police should be in the cars, patrolling the train with special emphasis on empty or nearly empty cars.

One of my articles on Anne-Lorraine involved a post from Valeurs Actuelles that was censored, presumably by the website itself, for being too harsh and inciting to violence. A false accusation, as you know if you read the article.

It seems that there were other cases of censorship at Le Figaro when a reader attempted to have his views published at the forum. His messages stayed online briefly before being removed. He says he was very frustrated but he found his notes, redid the comments, and sent them to Yves Daoudal, where they are posted in the comment section. Here are some excerpts (a reminder that Villiers-le-Bel is the town where the two "youths" were killed on Sunday, not long after the murder in the RER):

Who will come out and say that the Villiers-le-Bel is on the regional rail line RER D? Can they force us not to look at a map of the subway? It is likely that the killer got on the train at this stop, since it is beginning at this point that the train becomes quieter before continuing on its way northward, to the Louvres, Fosses, and Orry-la-Ville stations (...)

The Unity of Time and Place - Who will come out and say it? Not a word in the papers for three days, nothing, really nothing! Here's how the System reacted: one general instruction - "no connection". But that is an unreasonable defensive measure against the REAL, which speaks for itself... The sheer evidence of REALITY frightens them! They sense danger...

And on that Sunday November 25, as in the theater, there was Unity of Time and Place... but the play they want us to see does not correspond to Reality... Half of it is missing - the main scene! Extraordinary! Anyway, it's no longer comprehensible, the guiding theme is not there and boredom takes over: everyone has had enough and it becomes a sham!

I don't know why that was censored except that he is emphasizing the magnitude of the total problem of crime and the eerie coincidence of the murder and the rioting. In another censored comment he speaks of the events as being a "Parable".

On Saturday, the day of the funeral, when I checked later that evening for news reports on line, there was very little. Le Monde had nothing, Le Figaro had nothing, Yahoo and Le Parisien had the same post - a dry account of the event with no description at all. However I think other news services did cover the event - TF1 and M6 for example.

The fact that she was a devout Catholic, that the Catholic community of France rallied to the side of the family and did not avoid the issue of rampant crime in the suburbs, seems to be the root cause for the cool attitude of the media.

One blogger named "Stalker" wrote an unbearably long and furious diatribe in which he seems to be thundering against Catholics, or at least what he perceives as their hypocrisy. It is largely unreadable, and I was only able to skim it. Recommended only for those who know French very well. I would like to know the gist of what he is saying since he seems to make some valid points through that deluge of invectives.

Photo of the crowd outside the Cathedral from M6 Info where you can view other scenes.

Click here for a photo of Anne-Lorraine. It's the first one I've seen.