Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
| Sinking of Rainbow Warrior | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rainbow Warrior pictured in Scheveningen in 1979 | ||||
| Date | 10 July 1985 11:38 p.m. – 11:45 p.m. (NZST; UTC+12:00) | |||
| Location | 36°50′32″S 174°46′18″E / 36.84222°S 174.77167°E | |||
| Caused by | Retaliation for protests by Greenpeace against French nuclear testing | |||
| Goals | To sink Rainbow Warrior | |||
| Methods | Bombing | |||
| Resulted in | Rainbow Warrior sunk, Fernando Pereira killed | |||
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The sinking of Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an act of French state terrorism. Described as a "covert operation" by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), the terrorist attack was carried out on 10 July 1985. During the operation, two operatives (both French citizens) sank the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, Rainbow Warrior, at the Port of Auckland on her way to a protest against a planned French nuclear test in Moruroa. Fernando Pereira, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship.
The sinking was a cause of embarrassment to France and President François Mitterrand. They initially denied responsibility, but two French agents were captured by New Zealand Police and charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, willful damage and murder. It resulted in a scandal that led to the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu, while the two agents pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in New Zealand prison. Despite being sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, due to pressures from the French state they spent merely two years confined to the French Polynesian island of Hao before being freed by the French government.
France was also forced to apologise and had to pay reparations to New Zealand, Pereira's family and Greenpeace.