Alé de Basseville

Voir cette page en français

HISTORY :

On December the 25th, in Amsterdam, when celebrating Christmas in friends’ house with his wife Kiera Chaplin and his father in law, Eugène Chaplin, Alexandre is stricken by a violent headache. He had a seizure and a part of his right leg was numbed. Admitted in emergency in an hospital in Switzerland, a tumor is detected in his brain. He is trepanned on January 1st, 2006.
After this major surgery, Ale rested with his in laéws in Switzerland, to avoid new seizures and give fluidity to his blood he had to take a strong drugs and is required to have a neurological check up every six months. No travels by plane is permitted during a year to avoid any pressure on his brain.

ARRESTMENT :

Arriving in the US, the 1st of June 2006, Alé is arrested in the Hyatt Hotel of Washington DC. In the same time, some members of the production society Limelights directed by his wife Kiera, are caught in Los Angeles. Amonst them Bruno d’Esclavelles, General Manager, David Lieberman, Financial Manager, Fabien Pruvot, Film Director, André Prikazikov, and Brian Delansky.
In Amsterdam, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) arrested Thomas Frishknecht, a suspected accomplice.

According to the FBI, they would be all part of an international network of ecstasy done by Federal Agencies and European special police forces.
Infiltrated Agents from the DEA presenting themselvrd as ecstasy dealers would have negotiated in February 2006 the exportation of 10.000 pills delivered by Thomas Frischknecht from the Netherlands to the United States. The Limelights films society would have laundered the money. These same agents would have proceed later to a new order of 500.000 pills. The main charges against Ale and Bruno are “drug dealing and money laundering”.

Ale is sent to a Federal prison in Virginia with a trial scheduled for December 15th, 2006.

On August 20th, he felt into a coma after another seizure and sent to an hospital. He is back in prison on August 29th without drugs to treat his terrible headaches. Without success he begged for his medical records still in Europe. They will at last arrive in Virginia in October, thanks to the tenacity of his aunts.

On December 1st (six month after his arrest), the French Consulate of Washington, is at least aware of a french citizen beeing in an american jail. They are unworthy of not beeing told before, although diplomatic agreements demand it.

On December 12th, two days before his trial, Ale faints again. He suffered again a light seizure which was first diagnosed as a drug overdose, in prison however he was not permitted to take any drug despite his poor health condition. Finally a new tumor in his brain is diagnosed. His health deteriorates.

His trial is postponed to January 5th.

THE TRIAL :

Ale’s lawyer, Mr. Broadnax gave to Alé the advice to plead guilty to reduce the sentence to 18 months. Pleading non guilty induced a long and costly inquiry and, in retaliation, the attorney general will do his best to obtain a sentence of 20 to 25 years in jail.
So, following his lawyer advice, Alé pleaded guilty in August 2006.

On January 5th, after a speedy trial (which did not last more than 40 minutes) the French vice consul being present, Alé is sentenced 240 months of jail (20 years) and fined $528.00.
The judge (Gerald Bruce Lee) promised Alé that another trial would take place in January 2008 and, considering his poor physical condition, that he would be transferred in a medically supervised prison.
Just a day after the trial Ale’s lawyer dropped the case leaving Ale alone.

BIG SPRING :

After being transferred in different prisons such as Virginia, Warsaw, Oklaoma City, Alé is finally in Big Spring (Texas), a prison without any special medical facility where 25% of the inmates were pedophiles.

There, Ale lost 20 pounds and was completely cut during several weeks from his family and friends. Considered as a simulator he worked every day in the kitchen.

The French Consulate in Huston, suh as former French Ambassador in the United States, warned by the emergency of the situation are now trying to transfer him to a medically supervised Prison.

By the end of June 2007, Alé is sent back to Virginia to be interviewed by the General Attorney. He was back to Big Spring by the end of July, after a transfer trip threw Oklahoma City.

BREAKING NEWS : 2008, MARCH 30th

Last night at 5:00 AM French time, someone named George tried to contact three people in France: my sister Edith, Alé’s friend Val, and me, Alé’s aunt Béatrice. George is the nephew of a friend of Alé’s, his cellmate in Big Spring, Texas.

At 6:00 PM yesterday evening Central time in the US, Alé had an epileptic seizure followed quickly by convulsions. From his cell, George’s uncle called for help from the guards. No one came for half an hour. Alé said to his friend: “Who is going to tell how I’ve been treated?”, then, having suffered a ruptured aneurysm, he said nothing more.
After half an hour, with Alé’s cellmate screaming that he needed emergency hospitalization, some guards and supervisors finally came, but they refused to do anything to help Alé, and told his cellmate to calm down. It wasn’t until an hour later that, finally, with George’s uncle pleading incessantly, they decided to take Alé to the hospital. But Alé was already in a coma. George’s uncle stated that Alé still had a pulse when they took him to go to the hospital. Later, the uncle was “punished” for screaming and disturbing the peace in the prison.
At the present time, we do not know Alé’s condition. He’s in the hospital, but which one? is he still alive? That of course is what we want to believe.
Today, Sunday, we are trying to contact anyone who might be able to help: embassies, lawyers, friends. We have always preferred the diplomatic route. But the time for words is past – we must act!
Today, Alé is suffering his third illness and second coma in his 18 months of imprisonment. The medication that might alleviate his suffering has been withheld from him in recent weeks. (see my comments on his letter of March 25, 2008) Alé told me how painful it had been for him to hold on, after his last coma, he was suffering so much, and the help he was given for the pain was minimal. Someone had even said to him: “You’re just an inmate, and a Frenchy at that! Why should you get special treatment?”
Given the serious state of Alé’s health, we have always requested that the officials involved send him back to France. So that he can receive the treatment that his condition requires.
Today, we have learned that a person in peril was not given assistance despite the incessant pleas of his cellmate. Do we have to wait until he’s dead before any authority, American or French, will recognize Alé’s rights?

OUR TODAY’S PRIORITIES :

First, send him letters to comfort him. Then make fund raising to hire a good lawyer in the United States. Last, try to have him back in France, close to his family and friends and where he will receive appropriate medical cares. Moreover, since the last Coma, we need him transferred to Switzerland to have a second surgery there.