X-Message-Number: 18795 From: "John de Rivaz" <> Subject: Martinots face judicial use of violence - latest Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 08:14:36 -0000 A French court has ordered the use of force to remove the Martinots from their freezer and set them to rot. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1870000/1870301.stm >>>>excerpt Wednesday, 13 March, 2002, 17:27 GMT French court rules against frozen couple A French court has ruled that a couple who were frozen after their death in the hope of future revival must be removed from their refrigerated chamber and buried. The judge authorised the use of force if necessary for the execution of the court's decision. This decision flouts the sacred principle of absolute respect for a man's final wish, said Alain Fouquet Defence Lawyer The court decided that the continued freezing of Raymond Martinot, who died last month aged 80, and of his wife, who died in 1984, was against French law, which dictates that bodies must either be cremated or buried. Dr Martinot, who believed advances in medical technology would one day enable the frozen dead to be brought back to life, had his wife's body frozen after she died of cancer in 1984 and ordered his son Remy to freeze him too when he died. The pair are currently in a special cellar in the family chateau in the western village of Neuil-sur-Layon. The judge authorised the use of force if necessary for the execution of the court's decision. Moral issue The local authorities insisted that putting a body in a fridge could not be considered a burial, while Remy Martinot's lawyer, Alain Fouquet, argued that there was nothing in existing legislation expressly prohibiting the freezing of bodies. The ruling, said Mr Fouquet, "flouts the scared principle of an absolute respect for a man's last wish". He criticised the court for not deliberating longer on a subject which he said needed the testimonies of "medical experts, and even philosophers". Remy Martinot may appeal, but this is not likely to delay the sentence of the court being carried out. <<<<<< The report did not name a single person who was responsible for the action, not the prosecutor, the judge, the instigator or anyone else. I regard this as biased reporting (may not be the fault of the BBC, of course, it could be the information was withheld.) Those names need to be recorded in history. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://www.deRivaz.com : http://www.AlecHarleyReeves.com http://www.longevity-report.com : http://www.autopsychoice.com : http://www.cryonics-europe.org http://www.porthtowan.com Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18795