François Mitterrand
Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior

On 10 July 1985, the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace vessel, was in New Zealand preparing to protest against French nuclear testing in the South Pacific when two explosions sank the ship, resulting in the death of freelance photographer Fernando Pereira. The New Zealand government called the bombing the first terrorist attack in the country. In mid-1985, French Defence Minister Charles Hernu was forced to resign after New Zealand authorities arrested DGSE (French intelligence services) agents who confessed to planting the explosives and later pleaded guilty.

On the twentieth anniversary of the sinking, it was revealed that François Mitterrand had personally authorised the mission. Admiral Pierre Lacoste, the former head of the DGSE, made a statement saying Pereira's death weighed heavily on his conscience. Television New Zealand (TVNZ) also sought access to the court video recording hearing where two French agents pleaded guilty, which they won a year later.
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