Nov. 28, 1962 - President de Gaulle commuted today to life imprisonment the death sentences imposed on former Gen. Edmond Jouhaud (pictured in 1954) and André Canal, leaders of the terrorist Secret Army Organization (OAS) in Algeria and France. The decision had been foreseen ever since the high military tribunal that had sentenced Jouhaud to death imposed the lesser penalty of life imprisonment on former Gen. Raoul Salan, supreme commander of the terrorist group. The President’s employment of his right of grace was expected to be a popular one. France is in a mood to forget the nightmares that arose from the Algerian war. The 57-year-old Jouhaud was sentenced to death last April 13 both for his participation in the generals’ mutiny in Algiers in April 1961 and for his subsequent responsibility for OAS terrorist acts in the Oran region. Canal, an Algiers businessman, was found guilty of having directed terrorist actions in France itself that cost several lives and was sentenced to death on Sept. 17.
