Service d'Action Civique

Created in 1959 by Jacques Foccart, French President de Gaulle's spindoctor for African matters, and Charles Pasqua, part of the Gaullist movement, the SAC (Service d'Action Civique) had as first aim to counter the terrorist actions of the Organisation armée secrète during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62). It later became involved in all sorts of shady moves and underground actions for the Gaullist party, and participated in the organization of the May 30, 1968 Gaullist counter-demonstration. According to Daniele Ganser (2005), in 1975, the SAC had as president Jacques Chirac, who later became prime minister several times before being elected president in 1995 ^[1]. The SAC was officially dissolved by President Mitterrand in 1982, after the "Auriol massacre" on the night of July 18th, 1981 (the five members of the Auriol commando were condemned on May 1, 1985 to sentences between 15 years of prison and life-sentences; however, the mastermind behind inspector Massié's murder was never identified) ^[2].

Footnotes

1. ^ See Daniele Ganser, Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, Franck Cass, London, 2005, p.101.
2. ^ "Un beau travail d'action civique", in Le Canard Enchaîné #4441, December 7, 2005

See also

• François-Xavier Verschave's criticism of French neocolonialism