French press review 29 December 2016

There’s barely a French newspaper that doesn't lead with news of the pardon granted to French woman Jacqueline Sauvage late yesterday ... though John Kerry's comments on Israel run a close second.

Left-leaning Libération fetes Jacqueline Sauvage's 'long road to freedom' after French President François Hollande used his Presidential discretion to acquit Sauvage who was convicted to 10 years in prison for killing her violent husband.

In their report, journalists Sylvain Mouillard and Cécile Bourgneuf say she had become "the symbol of victims of domestic violence".

Released at last, the day after her 69th birthday, from the Parisian region prison of Réau, the President of the Republic "considered that the place of Madame Sauvage was no longer in prison today, but with her family," according to a statement from the Élysée.

While one of her lawyers, Nathalie Tomasini, said there was an anxious wait, as "everyone knew" the decision that lay ahead.

But Sauvage was hoping her release might come for Christmas or for her birthday and definitely by New Year's Day.

"This decision closes a case that began nearly four years ago, punctuated by trials, petitions of support and requests for pardon," Tomasini said.

Five decades of wedded hell

After nearly fifty years of violence, Sauvage shot her husband Norbert Marot, on September 10, 2012, with three rifle shots to the back.

"During her trial, the accused - a worker in the pharmaceutical then clothing industries - told of the constant beatings, insults and sexual violence suffered," since not long after her marriage in 1965 reports the Libé.

Le Monde in its coverage of the affair says Jacqueline Sauvage's freedom comes after a partial pardon granted by President Hollande in January, allowing her to apply for her release, yet rejected twice by the courts.

"In particular, the Paris Court of Appeal found that her case remained "poor and limited because she still possessed 'a genuine feeling of guilt'", it writes.

Then in October 2014, she was sentenced to ten years in prison. Her three daughters testified against their father, explaining that they too had been raped and beaten.

The "Political class hails Holland's decision" claims Le Monde with the Secretary of State for Victim Assistance, Juliette Méadel, tweeting "Enfin Libre' ... free at last. "A wise presidential pardon".

Two-state solution Paris summit

Catholic daily La Croix leads with the story about the US Secretary of State John Kerry and his comments on the Middle East, under the headline "Is a two-state solution still possible?"

Kerry's comments follows Israel's nod to a multi-storey building for settlers in East Jerusalem, just days after a UN vote calling on a halt to Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory.

La Croix says Kerry consider the two-state solution the only possible path for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

"And such a solution," it writes, "should be the subject of an international summit in Paris on January 15, a summit strongly criticized by the Israeli government".

In a show of support for Israel on the other hand, says the report, US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted yesterday, "Stay strong Israel, January 20 is very close."

Then, "We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but ..."

Paris smog returns

And finally to Le Figaro which reports that thanks, or rather curse to, a new pollution spike in Paris, residential parking will be free in the capital today.

The latest episode is again the result of a particular combination of atmospheric pollution with climate conditions - sunny and dry - which are forming a kind of bowl of compressed smog over Paris, and making life unbearable for its citizens over the past month.

Airparif, the association in charge of monitoring air quality in the Paris region, says other measures might follow, among them free use of the electric car-sharing Autolib and bike-sharing Vélib.

"The City of Paris calls on all Parisians to follow the prevention messages and adapt their behaviour, placing a priority on public transport, carpooling or the use of low-emission vehicles," the association said in a statement.