Antoine Argoud (26 June 1914 – 10 June 2004) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

officer specializing in

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

during the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. Argoud's opposition to Algerian independence from France resulted in his joining of the

Organisation armée secrète The ''Organisation armée secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Army Organisation") was a far-right dissident French paramilitary and terrorist organisation during the Algerian War, founded in 1961 by Raoul Salan, Pierre Lagaillarde and Jean-Jacques S ...

(OAS) and support for its use of violence in opposition to this policy. Argoud was twice tried and convicted (the first ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'') for his role in the attempted assassination of

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

on 22 August 1962. On 25 February 1963, while he was hiding in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he was kidnapped by French secret police CRS agents at the Eden-Wolff hotel. Argoud was then smuggled to France. The next day, police in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

found him hogtied in a panel truck behind

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

. During his interrogation, Argoud's revelations allowed the secret service to arrest

Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry (19 October 1927 – 11 March 1963) was a French Air Force lieutenant colonel, military air-weaponry engineer and the creator of the Nord SS.10/SS.11 missiles. Bastien-Thiry attempted to assassinate French president Char ...

and other conspirators. Thiry was later executed for masterminding the plot. Following the second trial, Argoud was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. He was released from prison as part of a general amnesty in June 1968. He then lived in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and worked as a consultant for the

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

. He returned to France in 1974. In an interview, Argoud said he hated De Gaulle for withdrawing from Algeria and was "now ashamed of being French." In his memoirs, he admitted to personally participating in atrocities. Argoud said he'd tortured detainees and extrajudicially executed

Fellagha The ''Fellagha'', an Arabic word literally meaning "bandits" (الفلاقة, singular الفلاق), refers to groups of armed militants affiliated with anti-colonial movements in French North Africa. It most often is used to refer to armed A ...

s, whose corpses he then publicly displayed.

"I carried out capital executions. I made them public, precisely to obtain maximum profitability from the death of a man, unlike many of my comrades. If you like, one man executed publicly among the Arabs has as much effectiveness as ten men executed clandestinely or behind the walls of a prison. Not content with executing them publicly, I left their corpses exposed in the public square."

Bibliography

* André Cocastre-Zilgien ''L'affaire Argoud. Considérations sur les arrestations internationalement irrégulières'', Pédone, 1965

References

External links

Argoud charged over de Gaulle plot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argoud, Antoine 1914 births 2004 deaths People from Darney Failed assassins French Army officers French Army personnel of World War II French military personnel of the Algerian War French murderers French prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment French torturers French war criminals OAS members convicted of crimes People convicted of attempted murder People convicted of treason against France People sentenced to death in absentia by France Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France Anti-Arabism in France Recipients of French presidential pardons War criminals of the Algerian War