President Giscard in a Quandary: Bokassa (former emperor) Threatens to Open a “Pandora’s Box”

President Giscard in a Quandary

Bokassa (former emperor) Threatens to Open a “Pandora’s Box”

The arrest of Roger Delphey, one of the heroes of the Indochina battles, on charges of conspiring with the Libyan embassy in Paris to damage France’s policy and standing in Africa continues to arouse great curiosity.

Various sources maintain that one very particular figure is chiefly involved in the affair: Bokassa, the deposed emperor of the Central African Republic. Bokassa, now under house arrest in the Ivory Coast, seeks revenge on the French president for having “abandoned” him. The French authorities, for their part, have naturally been greatly embarrassed since the satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné began publishing documents about Bokassa’s diamond gifts to Giscard.

Delphey once had fairly close ties with the Bokassa regime. Now, the sources claim, 40 letters signed by the deposed emperor have been found in his apartment. Delphey was planning to publish a book about the Central African affair, which he had already offered to a French publisher and an American newspaper.

Bokassa himself, meanwhile, has lately been sending “embarrassing” photographs of himself with Giscard and other leaders from “those good old days” to various people around the world. Before the most recent Franco-African summit, he sent letters to African heads of state detailing the “favors” he had done for Giscard. He is writing his memoirs, and some of the material may soon be published, accompanied by photographs, in various languages.

Apart from plotting revenge on Giscard, the deposed emperor devotes himself to chronic drinking. He has bought enormous quantities of alcoholic beverages from the United States and wines from France, and spends most of his time drunk. On several occasions he attacked his guards, and once even managed to seize one of their pistols. Giscard, for his part, appears greatly worried by this behavior as the presidential election in his country approaches.

Recently, Bokassa called the home of a Paris Match reporter and promised to call him again at nine in the evening in order to “tell him everything.” That evening, at eight o’clock, the telephone at the journalist’s home was mysteriously disconnected, and the connection was not restored until the following morning.

Is divine providence thwarting the former emperor’s plans—or is this a case of providence of a very personal kind?

Gainsbourg Strikes Again

The scandal-plagued singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg (pictured) is not resting on his laurels. The echoes of his “Marseillaise” affair in a reggae rhythm had barely died down when Gainsbourg decided to prove himself as a writer as well.

His book Eugène Sokolov has just appeared from the renowned French publishing house Gallimard, which is responsible, among other things, for publishing the books of Sartre and Albert Camus. The book’s subject: the artist’s loneliness.

But the reasons for the painter Eugène Sokolov’s loneliness are quite unusual. The man, to put it delicately, gives off odors and makes unpleasant noises! The bulk of the book is devoted to a meticulous analysis of the composition of the various gases associated with his personality, including poisonous weapons.

It was the publisher’s director, Claude Gallimard, who made the courageous personal decision to publish Gainsbourg’s book, against the advice of his readers and many of his esteemed reading public. And “The Scents of Eugène Sokolov” went out into the world with a fanfare.

Jean Elleinstein’s Sweet Revenge

The renowned Jewish historian Jean Elleinstein, who was expelled from the Communist Party, has decided to secure financial independence for himself so that he can continue his struggle against the party leadership.

To that end, he has recently put up for auction valuable documents in his possession, including authentic letters from Trotsky and General de Gaulle, manuscripts by Gide and Sartre, rare newspapers, and more.

Some expect that a considerable portion of the documents will be bought by the Communist Party—and then it will find itself supporting its greatest internal opponent...

The Chest-Stabber Is Back

A madman known by the nickname “the chest-stabber” has returned, as he does every spring, to terrorize the women of Paris. The man, who first appeared in 1975 and has never been caught, tends to attack young women and stab them in the chest with a syringe or a similar instrument.

Spring, the season when Parisian women wear light clothing and bare their shoulders, heralds the stabber’s arrival. His first victim this year was a 22-year-old woman, whom he attacked in an elevator and who needed medical treatment.