FRENCH INTERCEPT CAROLINE TENDER

France has now joined the list of countries whose judicial system is devoting its energies to the eradication of the voice of Free Radio. The first report to reach our shores of the storm which was just beginning to give the initial tell-tale puffs of its fury was a brief item in "The Times" of the 26th February, 1977. This simply and unemotionally read "Fines for supplying Radio Caroline. Lille, Feb. 25 - Five French businessmen have been fined by a Lille court for supplying the North Sea pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, with food, linen and wine. The fines ranged from 1000 francs (£117) to 5,000 francs". More was to come.
The French newspaper "La Voix du Nord" (Voice of the North) provided more details for us. In their edition of February 25th, under the heading "COURT CASE IN BOULOGNE:
Was Radio 'Caroline', a pirate broadcasting station, tendered in a clandestine way? They reported the first case thus: "It was on charges of infringing the Posts and Telecommunications law and for carrying passengers to a pirate ship that Messrs. Frederic DOUCEDAME (24), Patrick RINGART (26), both managers of a firm and living in Boulogne; Paul BALOGH (54), chairman of a firm and living in Calais; Jean-Marie TALLEUX (45), manager of a fishery and living in Gravelines; and Jean-Pierre DELVA (30), draughtsman living in Paris, appeared before the High Court in Boulogne. Mr. LAMOINE, prosecuting counsel, gave the Court information about pirate stations broadcasting from International Waters. An agreement was passed between France and England to forbid such broadcasting and the supplying of pirate ships. The law passed on 29th December 1969 gives power to act against the pirate ships following the 1965 agreement, which forbids French citizens to supply pirate ships. In this case the pirate station in question is 'Caroline'. The British Authorities asked the French 'Ministre des Affaires etrangeres et au garde des Sceaux' (Foreign Office and Keeper of the Seals) to start investigations and they found that the accusations were right. The charge against the accused was hiring tenders which were to furnish stores and supplies to the ship. Hiring these boats - which was done in Boulogne and Calais - is an infringement of Article 4, paragraph 3 of the law. Moreover the supplies were bought within French territory, a charge which falls under Article 693 of the legal procedure. These are infringements of the International agreements and the attorney asked for fines to prove that France wants to respect commitments she has signed with other nations. The accused did not contest the facts and admitted carrying passengers to the ship 'Amigo' from where 'Caroline' broadcasts. But they argued, as the Counsel for the Defence Mr. P. FAUCQUEZ pointed out, that Police and Customs were aware of all these facts as even the professions of the passengers were given frequently to the P.A.F. (Frontier Air Police), and nobody here wanted to break the law. After discussing the matter, the Court fined Mr. Delva 1000 Francs (about £110), Mr. Balogh 1500 Francs (£165), Mr. Doucedame and Mr. Ringard 3000 Francs each (£330) and Mr. Talleux 5000 Francs (£550)
A few days later, on March 4th, the same paper had news of a further development in the case. It reported "A trawler from Boulogne has been intercepted at Calais: it had supplied the pirate station 'Radio Caroline"; and yet another story of Governmental intrigue emerged. "The close collaboration between Maritime Police and the P.A.F. at Calais led to the discovery that a Boulogne trawler 'Saint-Andre des Flandres' supplied the pirate station 'Radio Caroline', broadcasting from the ship Mi Amigo between the territorial limits of England and France. On board the trawler were: Andre FAUCHET(26), Master; Michael DELPIERRE (27), seaman, both from Boulogne-sur-Mer and Francis BIGAND (30) engineer, from Etaples. They supplied the pirate station about ten times. For a few days the Brigade of Investigations from the P.A.F. kept a close watch on this boat, which was taking on board too much food for a 24 hour journey. It also, in specially installed tanks, carried fuel, the supplying of which is forbidden by international agreements. At length the investigator established the transportation of clandestine passengers on board. Nevertheless, the Boulogne Public Prosecutor decided to release the three sailors, and the trawler has not been impounded. But this does not mean the case is ended; the three sailors will appear before the Court to answer for their deeds".
True, that was by no means the end of the matter. "La Voix du Nord" ran further articles on March 7th and 8th, reiterating how the "St. Andre des Flandres" had been apprehended by the Authorities and going on to report what had happened next. "Continuing their investigation, the Calais Police and their colleagues of Boulogne went to make a search of the apartment of 40-year-old Mrs. Oonagh Huggard, ex-employee of 'Radio Caroline' and presently secretary for a Liechtenstein company. The Police found there documentation of a direct connection with the supplying of Radio Caroline. Mrs. Huggard received backing enabling her to finance the operation of supplying the pirate station. Veritable head of Radio Caroline's French provisioning network, her particular job was to find boats suitable to transport the goods... When Mrs. Huggard, a charming young lady of British nationality, saw six policemen and a dog arriving at her home she was of course not very pleased about it. 'What offended me', she told us, 'was the fact I was questioned without the help of a translator, because although I can speak and understand French, I cannot understand all the subtleties of your language - particularly when six persons are speaking all at once and very fast'". Mrs. Huggard is not being held in custody, but we understand she is to appear in court on June.1st at the Palais de Justice in Haute Ville, a suburb of Boulogne.
The French newspaper comes out solidly in favour of Caroline. They describe her as "The famous pirate broadcasting station from which musical programming refreshes the ears of European listeners bored with other stations", and comment "It is very stimulating to see that Radio Caroline, a British station, uses France for her supplies, which is a very good point for the quality of our products. It is also an opening for our export trade and God knows we need it. It is perhaps not very legal, but are international transactions legal at all?". The editorial comment doesn't even stop there. It goes on into detail of how France has in the past sold out on moral issues for political reasons and suggests that this is happening again over this issue. "It would be easy for the British Government to jam the broadcasts', it says, "but it seems the Labour Government is not ready to do that. Without a doubt they are afraid of giving the station publicity by doing that, but surely they are even more afraid of displeasing the eight or nine million listeners. That would not be very good for political purposes. So it is back to the blockade. Instead of direct actions such as by commandos or a torpedo, they prefer us to eradicate the voice of Radio Caroline by starving the transmitter engineers! This could be a long and difficult venture... there's plenty of fish in the North Sea!"
La Voix du Nord" is not the only publication in France which is against this latest Government action. Our friends of "Offshore Echos France" are also doing their part to bring these events to the notice of the public and of the Chamber of Deputies (the French equivalent of our House of Commons). With the last issue of OEF a draft letter was included for readers to sign and send to their Deputy (Member of Parliament). Already this scheme is meeting with some success, and by now at least one Deputy has replied and pledged an interest in the case. Further developments will be chronicled in Monitor No.15; meanwhile our thoughts are with all those persons who are awaiting the verdict of French justice.
Our thanks to FRC-France for providing the Press cuttings that have made up this article, and particularly to Francois Lhote for donating so much of his valuable time to translate them for us!