What was first of all a farce or a “rant” earned the humorist, despite his withdrawal from the presidential election, to be tracked down by the RG until his death, in 1986.
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In October 1980, at the top of his glory, Coluche decided to run for the presidential election of 1981. He made this decision after being put at the door of Europe 1 – where, every day, he animated with great Successful afternoon slices and ridiculed the then president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, entangled in the diamond case -, then RMC, from where he was fired after ten days for s ‘Be mocked by the Prince of Monaco and the Rock. Forbidden of media, he then announced his candidacy for the election which will offer him, in fact, a platform.
What is first of all a farce quickly becomes serious. Advised by a few friends from the extreme left (Romain Goupil and Maurice Najman) and supported by the Hara Kiri team, Coluche rallies part of the intellectuals (Alain Touraine, Félix Guattari, Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Bourdieu) and many French, who recognize themselves in his banter and his outspokenness.
In a few months, it is credited with 16 % of voting intentions. A score that worries the right as much as the left. But, in April 1981, a month before the election which will bring François Mitterrand to power, Coluche announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, to the chagrin of his support committees.
death threats
What happened? In their documentary Coluche, a state enemy clown, Jean-Louis Perez and Michel Despratx tell, using numerous testimonies, how the State asked general information (RG) to use all means to force the comic to give up his candidacy.
For the first time, the authors show the RG file n ° 817706 in the name of Michel Colucci, where his criminal record and all his daily activities are recorded. An operation closely supervised by the “management group” of the RG, which did not hesitate to get out of the nails of the legality and to use very muscular means, as revealed by several cops having participated in this destabilization. “It is true that the” management group “was a state in the police state”, recognizes Yves Bertrand, director of the RG of the time.
On several occasions, Coluche received death threats signed “Honor of the police”, a commando which had claimed the assassination of Pierre Goldman-far left activist (half-brother of singer Jean-Jacques Goldman) -, September 20, 1979.
The authors also show that the surveillance of Coluche did not stop after the withdrawal of his candidacy. She continued until June 19, 1986, the day of her fatal motorcycle accident. The next day, the anonymous hand of a police officer wrote on the file: “DCD”.