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French duo fail to prevent airing of blast confessions

Two French spies convicted of bombing Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship in 1985 failed yesterday in a final court appeal to stop New Zealand television from showing footage of their manslaughter confessions.

The intelligence agents -- members of France's main foreign spy agency DGSE -- pleaded guilty to the July 1985 bombing and were sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of a Greenpeace photographer in the attack.

Dutch national Fernando Pereira died when two bombs ripped open the Rainbow Warrior's hull in Auckland Harbor shortly before it was to sail to protest France's nuclear tests in the South Pacific.

The former spies have fought a 20-year battle to prevent videotapes of their trial being screened.

The footage will air on state-owned Television New Zealand's Sunday current affairs program this weekend after the Supreme Court dismissed their appeal yesterday, said the head of news and current affairs Bill Ralston.

Lawyers for the two French spies -- Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur -- argued they never approved the closed-circuit television footage that was recorded as a permanent record during the trial.

"We have not been satisfied that this is a proper case to be heard by this court," the Supreme Court justices ruled.

Television New Zealand was also awarded NZ$2,500 (US$1,675) in costs by the nation's highest court.
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