Nexus - 1204 - New Times Magazine-pages

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international arrest warrant issued against him, four Swiss Loic's luxury did not last long; mysteriously he was sudden- police officers crashed into Loic's hotel room. ly transferred to solitary confinement which was scheduled to The French judiciary, he was told, demanded his immediate last until 22nd December. extradition from Switzerland and his appearance before a court He was not allowed any visitors, to send mail or even to see in France. As Loic was soon to find out, the police who had his Swiss lawyer. Clearly, despite the paucity of evidence taken him into custody had no idea at all about his ongoing against him, the French authorities were bringing pressure to battle with the French government or of the trumped-up bear on the Swiss. charges they had brought against him. When the Swiss police The French authorities soon confirmed the charges against did find out that the charges against Loic were related to the Loic, who was now accused of swindling and the manufacture practice of medicine without a licence, they were astounded. and distribution of a toxic product. Pushed by Loic into finding out more about his case, the After a month Loic's circumstances improved. He was Swiss police received a fax of the warrant for his arrest. allowed visits and mail began to arrive, although he was still Accompanying the warrant was a confidential document which refused his laptop—essential, one would have imagined—to was headed: "The contents of this paper are nothing more than work on his defence. information that may be used to help the To add further weight to Loic's "most inquiry. wanted" status, and despite him being in They cannot be referred to unless hav- prison, the Bordeaux prosecuting authori- ing first been verified." In the section ties issued yet another international arrest entitled "Past History" was written "noth- warrant for him. However, when his ing", in the paragraph headed "Education" Swiss lawyer asked in France about this no profession was noted and his last new warrant, he was told by the judge known address was recorded as the prison preparing the case against Loic that he in Gradignan, in 1997. . . knew nothing of it. From a man with a list of degrees as When the Swiss police As the 5th February trial grew closer, long as his arm and author of many cited did find out that the Loic finally made a decision to give up his scientific papers, this description reduced . a battle against extradition and face the dis- his social and academic stature at a stroke, charges against Loic sonant music. rendering him a "non-person". On the evening of 3rd February, Loic The charges which followed as Le were related to the was handed over in handcuffs to the Ribault's criminal history, all based practice of medicine French police. With his laptop com- on no evidence, included one incred- . . puter and three travel bags of lug- ible case which involved "sending of without a licence, they gage he was transported to a cheque from a closed account". were astounded. Bonneville prison. There, in over- This Loic was supposed to have crowded conditions, he spent the done on 7th January 1997 in the first night sleeping on the floor with- town of Arcachon. out having eaten. On the date in question, Loic had The next day the French police been locked up in Gradignan prison escorted him, still handcuffed—but in the middle of a three month prison without his luggage which had been sentence. As Loic was to remark left at Bonneville—to Gradignan later, "I was more cunning than prison, where he had been incarcer- Arsene Lupin..." ated eight years earlier. When he arrived, it was one o'clock in the LOIC'S SECOND TERM? morning on Sth February, the day of After a brief police custody during the last week of his trial. Again, he had not eaten. November 2003, Loic found himself in the Champ-Dollon Loic was to remain locked up in Gradignan for twenty days. prison, on the outskirts of Geneva. Comparing this cell to the Other prisoners and warders responded to him as they always one in which he had spent time in France, he wrote: had, partially with incredulity and partly with sympathy. "Compared to my French cell, No. 124 in 1996-1997, "We're here for good reason", they would say, "But you, its Swiss sibling, No. 258 seemed to me to be an what the hell are you doing here! It's disgusting!" unhoped-for luxury: A private cell of around 12 meters It was 2.30 p.m. when Loic arrived at the Bordeaux Court of square, clean, equipped with a toilet room and a win- Justice. Loic later wrote the following description of his dow free of bars, with a view over Mont Blanc. As the "trial". In the tradition of all his earlier writing, the description days went by, I discovered and appreciated the perfect is not only beautiful prose, but also highly satirical: courtesy of the prison personnel. The cooking was "I was welcomed warmly by the police officers who were excellent (four menus to choose from), I was allowed to outraged by my treatment. They insisted on offering me some walk for one hour a day in a mesh cage perched on the sugar water to help me deal with the shock. They also gave me roof of the prison, to take a shower daily, to have a piece of string to use as a belt to keep my trousers up. Then I access to superfluous items (food shop, newspapers, was thrown into the arena, or rather into a cage of bullet-proof paper suppliers, etc.) from a catalogue of thirty or so glass. After all, wasn't I dangerous? pages provided by the penitentiary administration, and "The public stands were packed and there was a ripple of to watch colour TV. All of which makes incarceration applause on my arrival, rapidly hushed by the lady magistrate. relatively tolerable." The court was composed almost exclusively of female When the Swiss police did find out that the charges against Loic were related to the practice of medicine without a licence, they were astounded. JUNE — JULY 2005 NEXUS = 21 www.nexusmagazine.com