Student Receives Suspended Sentence for Desecrating Robert Badinter's Tomb in France

French Court Delivers Verdict

A French court in Nanterre has sentenced a 23-year-old engineering student to a suspended one-year jail term for the desecration of the tomb of former Justice Minister Robert Badinter. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. The student, who had no prior criminal record, admitted to the offenses of grave desecration and property damage.

Details of the Desecration

The incident took place on the night of October 8, 2025, at Badinter's tomb in the Bagneux cemetery, located in the Hauts-de-Seine department near Paris. The student spray-painted blue graffiti on the tombstone, which read: 'Eternal is their gratitude, the murderers, the paedophiles, the rapists' or 'Eternal is their recognition, murderers, paedos, rapists, the Republic sanctifies it'. The defacement occurred just hours before a ceremony on October 9, 2025, where Robert Badinter was to be symbolically honored at the Panthéon, a mausoleum for France's national heroes.

Motive and Identification

During the trial, the defendant identified himself as a 'royalist'. He stated that his actions were a reaction to a separate incident in January where the tombstone of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was damaged. Police were able to identify the student through CCTV footage showing him entering and leaving the Bagneux cemetery, as well as through mobile phone data analysis. Investigators revealed that he had located Badinter's grave several days prior to the act.

Robert Badinter's Legacy and Public Reaction

Robert Badinter, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 95, was a revered figure in French law and politics. He was a Holocaust survivor and is widely remembered for his pivotal role in:

• Abolishing the death penalty in France in 1981.
• Decriminalizing homosexuality in 1982.

The desecration drew widespread condemnation. French President Emmanuel Macron reacted immediately, stating on social media platform X: 'Shame on those who wanted to sully his memory.' and 'The Republic is always stronger than hate.' Marie-Hélène Amiable, the Mayor of Bagneux, also condemned the 'cowardly act,' noting that the inscriptions specifically targeted Badinter's commitments against the death penalty and for the decriminalization of homosexuality.