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Revolutionary Front for Proletarian Action

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Revolutionary Front for Proletarian Action
Front Révolutionnaire d’Action Prolétarienne (in French)
Dates of operationfl. 1985
Active regionsBelgium
Political positionFar-left
Notable attacksBombing of North Atlantic Assembly and AEG Telefunken buildings
StatusInactive

The Revolutionary Front for Proletarian Action (French: Front Révolutionnaire d’Action Prolétarienne) was a Belgian far-left terrorist organisation.

The organisation was active in 1985, and was known for the bombing of the Secretariat of the North Atlantic Assembly and the AEG Telefunken building.[2]

History

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The Revolutionary Front for Proletarian Action was founded as a splinter of the Communist Combatant Cells at the initiative of Action Directe following disagreements with CCC leaders.[1][3] The CCC would hasten to disassociate themselves from the organisation.[2]

On 20 April 1985, a bomb was detonated in the building housing the secretariat of the North Atlantic Assembly, setting fire to the building. The organisation's acronym "FRAP" was spray painted on the outside of the building. FRAP later claimed responsibility for the attack through an anonymous call to Belgian radio.[4][5] Twenty hours later on 21 April, another bomb was detonated at the AEG Telefunken building in Brussels. Nobody was injured in the attack, though the explosion blew out several windows in the structure and the neighbouring building. Though the organisation did not claim responsibility for the attack, the organisation's acronym was again found spray painted, on a wall in the building's garden. In both attacks, the bombs were detonated on windowsills.[4][5] The bomb maker was suspected to be Luc Van Acker,[6][7] a Mouscron-born conscientious objector who had earlier travelled to Sudan on a humanitarian mission during the Second Sudanese Civil War.[8]

A CCC attack on the Federation of Belgian Enterprises which led to the death of two firemen on 1 May would lead to Acker allegedly losing his nerve, and in turn distancing himself from FRAP.[6]

The FRAP would claim responsibility for the bombing of the Bayer AG headquarters on 22 June,[2] though the attack was in reality conducted by an eco-terrorist organisation known as the Peace Conquerors.[9][10][11][12]

In August, Chantal Paternostre was arrested after her fingerprints were found in a Brussels apartment used by the group during a police raid in 1984,[13][14] on the suspicion of her involvement with FRAP.[3][6] In January 1986, Luc Van Acker would similar be arrested following a police raid on a hideout.[3][7][15]

Paternoste and Acker would appear before the Brussels court of assizes on 26 September 1988, alongside Pierre Carette and other associates of far-left extremist groups.[16][17] The defendants accepted the legitimacy of the trial, unlike the CCC defendants which withdrew its lawyers and began a hunger strike. The tried FRAP members would be sentenced for five years in prison.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Westlake, Martin (5 May 2019). "A country in foment: Belgium in the 1980s". Brussels Express. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Noemi, Gal-Or (18 June 2015). Tolerating Terrorism in the West: An International Survey. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1317391500.
  3. ^ a b c Fralon, José-Alain (23 January 1986). "EXPLOSIFS, COLT 45, ŒUVRES D'ENVER HODJA... Ce que recelait une des " planques " des Cellules communistes combattantes" [EXPLOSIVES, COLT 45, WORKS BY ENVER HODJA ... What was concealed in one of the "hideouts" of the Communist Combatant Cells]. Le Monde (in French). Brussels. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b Wielaard, Robert (21 April 1985). "Second Blast in Two Days Damages AEG-Telefunken Offices". AP News. Brussels. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b "A terrorist bomb blast, the second in Belgium in..." United Press International. Brussels. 21 April 1985. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Lodge, Juliet (11 July 2019). The Threat Of Terrorism: Combating Political Violence In Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1000306361.
  7. ^ a b "Benelux Report". 3 (1–23). Haslach & Haslach. 1986: 6. ISSN 0747-7708. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Guillaume, Alain (24 September 1988). "La Belgique juge ses terroristes" [Belgium judges its terrorists]. Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  9. ^ Ponsaers, Paul (2 April 2020). Terrorisme in België: Polarisering en politiek geweld [Terrorism in Belgium: Polarisation and political violence] (in Dutch). Compel & Svacina. p. 308. ISBN 978-9463712095.
  10. ^ "Police Say They Are Taking Seriously Claim by 'Peace Conquerors'". AP News. Frankfurt, West Germany. 23 June 1985. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  11. ^ Nagtzaam, Gerry (27 January 2017). From Environmental Action to Ecoterrorism?: Towards a Process Theory of Environmental and Animal Rights Oriented Political Violence. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 284. ISBN 978-1785367359.
  12. ^ "Chemical Company Bombed in Brussels". New York Times. 23 June 1985. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  13. ^ Logeart, Agathe; Fralon, José-Alain (17 December 1985). "Sur la piste des lampistes" [On the trail of lamp workers]. Le Monde (in French). Brussels. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  14. ^ Wielaard, Robert (18 December 1985). "Belgian Minister Says Arrests Virtually Wiped Out Fighting Communist Cells". AP News. Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  15. ^ Casert, Raf (22 January 1986). "Police Announce Breakthroughs in Fight against Terrorism". AP News. Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  16. ^ "BELGIQUE : le procès des Cellules communistes combattantes Pierre Carette et ses comparses ont à répondre de vingt et un attentats et de deux assassinats" [BELGIUM: the trial of Communist Fighting Cells Pierre Carette and his associates have to answer for twenty-one attacks and two assassinations]. Le Monde (in French). 27 September 1988. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b Dartnell, Michael (11 October 2013). Action Directe: Ultra Left Terrorism in France 1979-1987. Routledge. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-1135210496.

Further reading

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