J'Accuse - Emile Zola

The Drefus Affair was what originally inspired Emile Zola to write one of the most controversial pieces of writing in history, one that proved victorious to Journalism. The lecture was probably one of my favorites and I found it so interesting how miscarriages of justice can so easily be made. The whole way through, I was picturing myself in Drefus's position and I can't even begin to imagine how he must of felt being framed from a
crime, he never committed.

It all began back when Drefus was a member of the French Army. He had attended military school, he should have come second in his tests however, he was heavily discriminated against because he was from a Jewish family and as a result, he was marked with '0'. In 1894, a French spy, also a cleaning lady found secret documents in a German bin meaning somebody within the French Army had been supplying the Germans with secret documents. The French found this deeply embarrassing that within their army, they had a traitor. Not knowing who this was, and wanting to 'resolve the issue' quickly, the found a Jew and sentenced him to life time imprisonment on Devils Island. This innocent Jew, was Drefus. They sent Drefus onto the island and locked him in a cell with no windows, he was only fed rotten food and was no longer allowed human contact. As a horrifying result, Drefus lost the ability to speak and his teeth fell out.
Before being sentenced to imprisonment at Devils Island, Drefus had a trail, naturally he was innocent and he should have been found innocent at the trial, but evidence was not supplied due to 'the protection of National Security.' This meant Drefus was found guilty and there was no way of proving him innocent. He had been given a death sentence in many ways, and the French Army were keen to get him sent over to the island and believed that this would be the end of the case. However, they were wrong. Enter Emile Zola.

Emile Zola was a Journalist of the time and was present at Drefus's trial. He was outraged by the decision to send Drefus to Devil's Island despite there being no real evidence to suggest that he was guilty. His anger was further fueled in 1896, when the Chief of French Military Intelligence, LT Colonel Picquart, found evidence to suggest that Drefus was innocent after all, and actually Esterhazy, another man within the French Army was guilty. When he raised this with his seniors, they refused to listen and sent him to Tuinisa as a method of to try and silence him. The French Army had already suffered enough humiliation for having a traitor in the first place, without it then being revealed to the public that they had imprisoned the wrong man. As a result of this, when a trial was held with Esterhazy, the court found him innocent to cover up any further embarrassment for the French Army. Unfortunately, a Journalist was in the wings waiting to produce a piece of writing that would reveal the true errors of the French Army and hopefully release an innocent man from a terrible fate. 


The article known as J'Accuse did exactly what it promised and Zola wrote lists and lists of people within the French Army he accused of being corrupt, he named and shamed Esterhazy and declared Drefus's innocence. Being experience at his job, Zola knew the consequences of publishing this, as it was full to the brim of defamation meaning he could be imprisoned himself under libel laws. He published it anyway. Within hours of its release, there was complete anarchy and uproar and true to his suspicions, Zola was trialled and found guilty of libel, he was sentenced to imprisonment but he fled to London and escaped. There began a Civil War.
Under a new government, Drefus was offered a new trial, but during the trial Drefus's solicitor was shot from behind meaning that another almighty miscarriage of justice occured, when Drefus was found guilty for a second time under 'extenuating circumstances'. He was eventually pardoned in 1889.


Throughout J'Accuse, it is clear that Zola is very passionate about Drefus's innocence, not only because of the sacrifice he is making but by also referring to the whole affair as a 'stain' on the presidency, ultimately making the president think about how he would be remembered, and how as a Journalist it is his 'duty to speak' on behalf of the people and on behalf of Drefus. 


This whole lecture, I found incredibly interesting. It made me so angry and made me want to make a difference. I cannot wait to be part of the Innocence Project in Year Three, although it will probably be shocking as well as completely compelling.