The Dreyfus Affair has been labelled as the most famous case of miscarriage of justice. At the end of the 19th century secret documents were found in a waste paper basket in the German embassy about the French’s future plans of military action. The French had a spy working in the embassy; a cleaning lady, who brought back the documents to the French, in which a trial was then held to convict the criminal on the account of treason. Dreyfus not only a captain of the French army but a Jew was framed and was secretly court marshalled. He was degraded and embarrassed; stripped of his medals and his sword was broken in front of the entire army and was then sent to Devil’s Island in 1894, and remained in a cell in which he couldn’t see anything; he was chained while he slept; he wasn’t allowed exercise; he was given rotten food and was never spoken too so eventually lost the capability of speech. This man was innocent. Later an officer delves further into the case and concludes that the evidence against Dreyfus is wrong and in fact Esterhazy, another officer was the actual culprit. His superior dismisses the evidence and claims: “What is it to you if a Jew rots on Devil’s Island?” showing the true anti-Semitism of the French army at this time. A court put Esterhazy on trial in a military court from which he is acquitted. It was during this that the famous French journalist Emile Zola became involved and wrote the J’accuse.
J’accuse meaning ‘I accuse’ was published on the 13th January 1898 in a popular newspaper; it was an open letter addressed to the president of France at the time Felix Faure. The letter accused the government and the army of anti-Semitism and highlighted the innocence of Dreyfus. Zola had two objectives to writing this piece; firstly he wanted to provide the public with a brief outline of the facts surrounding the Dreyfus case and therefore change the public’s opinion into the favour of Dreyfus himself. Secondly, Zola needed to provoke the government authorities enough so they would prosecute him meaning new evidence was produced and public interest of Esterhazy’s guilt was increased. J’accuse shows legal errors and emphasizes the serious lack of evidence the army hand against Dreyfus. The article caused a huge uproar in both France and across the world. Zola was found guilty of libel but fled to England to avoid imprisonment. Zola argued that "the conviction of Alfred Dreyfus was based on false accusations of espionage and was a misrepresentation of justice." And accuses Major du Paty de Clam as being the real man behind the injustice itself as he was the man who came up with the idea of framing Dreyfus in the beginning. "He was the one who came up with the scheme of dictating the text of the bordereau to Dreyfus; he was the one who had the idea of observing him in a mirror-lined room. And he was the one whom Major Forzinetti caught carrying a shuttered lantern that he planned to throw open on the accused man while he slept, hoping that, jolted awake by the sudden flash of light, Dreyfus would blurt out his guilt." Zola defends Dreyfus in every way possible explaining "These, Sir, are the facts that explain how this miscarriage of justice came about; The evidence of Dreyfus's character, his affluence, the lack of motive and his continued affirmation of innocence combine to show that he is the victim of the lurid imagination of Major du Paty de Clam, the religious circles surrounding him, and the 'dirty Jew' obsession that is the scourge of our time." Zola continues to explain that Esterhazy was in fact the culprit and he is the one who should have been convicted of treason. However, Zola explains that if Esterhazy was to be condemned then the entire general staff would also have to be known as guilty and which was enough motive for the war office to have covered Esterhazy’s act of treason. Near the end of J’accuse Zola mentions General Billot had known evidence that would have proved Dreyfus’ innocent. He further accuses General de Boisdeffre and General Gonse of anti-Semitism purely framing Dreyfus because he was Jewish. Zola’s finally accuses the court martial for convicting Dreyfus with treason on evidence that was kept a secret. Zola knew he was going to get a reaction from this letter and finishes it with the words ‘I am waiting’.
After Zola was convicted the army recognise a weakness in the case and Dreyfus is brought back from Devil’s Island and re-trailed, being found guilty under “extenuating circumstances” and was sent back.
