Эдуар Жан Эмпен: Өмірбаяны мен құсыққа алыну оқиғасы

Édouard Jean, 3rd Baron Empain (7 October 1937 – 21 June 2018)
was a French Belgian industrialist, best known by the general public for his kidnapping in 1978. Between 1969 and 1981, Baron Empain was CEO of the Schneider group (Schneider Empain). The Baron was the son of Jean, 2nd Baron Empain, and the grandson of Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain. He married the Italian Silvana Betuzzi in 1957 by whom he had two daughters and a son: they were divorced shortly after Empain's kidnapping. He lived in the suburbs of Paris with his second wife Jacqueline (née Ragonaux), a former model, whom he married in 1990.

At the time of his kidnapping, Édouard Jean Empain was the 40 year old heir to a substantial fortune, a notable industrialist and the director of the Schneider group since 1969. He was one of France's captains of industry, heading a group that comprised almost 150 companies and 130,000 employees, with an annual turnover of 25 billion francs. Notable members of the Schneider Group included Framatome (nuclear reactors), Creusot Loire (metallurgy) and Spie Batignolles (construction). His kidnapping profoundly affected him and he declared that he was never the same afterwards.

On Monday, January 23, 1978, at approximately 10:30am, Édouard Jean, 3rd Baron Empain, was picked up as usual from his home at 33 Avenue Foch, a prestigious address in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe. The Baron's chauffeured car, a Peugeot 604, was intercepted at a junction some 50 metres after it had left his home. A moped slid across the road, faking an accident in order to bring his car to a halt next to a parked van. Once the car had stopped several armed men removed the driver from the vehicle and bundled him into the van, while the Baron was quickly handcuffed and the kidnappers made off in his car. The Baron's car was found some hours later in an underground parking structure but contained no usable fingerprints. In the hope of recovering the Baron, the police put in place traffic stops throughout Paris and its suburbs but to no avail. told investigators that he had been handcuffed at gunpoint and thrown into the back of a van, and as such had not seen the faces of the kidnappers. He overheard one of them speaking in German, however, That scenario was persuasive as the kidnapping of Empain came on the heels of the kidnapping and the execution of the German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer by the Red Army Faction. The police quickly installed themselves in Empain's family home. Presuming that the kidnappers would contact the family, they tapped the phones if not we will kill the Baron. Other businessmen will follow "

The Armed Core Groups for Popular Autonomy (NAPAP) was an extreme left, French guerrilla organisation which had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a number of foreign diplomats. Although this lead supported the initial police theory, which was echoed in the press, that the kidnapping was politically motivated, the family had in fact received an anonymous telephone call from the real kidnappers which they relayed to the police. The call, which came from the Rue Anjou, close to the headquarters of the Schneider group, demanded that someone go to the Gare de Lyon to collect a message left in locker 595. One of the members of the group, along with the police, proceeded directly to the station where they found the Baron's identity card, a number of letters from the kidnappers, a note from the Baron (including a message to his wife) and a small package. It was the Baron's numerous affairs, however, which grabbed the public's attention and served to damage his previously untarnished reputation. Despite the family's silence, the press maintained a constant presence outside the Baron's home. To add to the media interest, the police refused to confirm the amputation of the Baron's finger which provoked widespread speculation. After much discussion, the group allowed themselves to be convinced by the police to pay a fake ransom, which was a great disappointment to the family, especially the Baron's wife, Silvana Empain, who feared it would put her husband's life in peril.

Four weeks after the kidnapping, on Monday February 20, 1978 a telephone call placed by the kidnappers to the Schneider group's headquarters indicated that the ransom had been reduced to 40 million francs without further negotiations. was chosen to carry out the ransom delivery under the guise of Mr. Mazo, a fictitious aide of the Baron. The kidnappers did not call however and the operation was cancelled later that evening.

Seven weeks after the kidnapping, on Friday March 17, 1978, , a Belgian businessman who was close to the Baron, received a telephone call at his Brussels office. At the second café Mazzieri was told to look for a road map at the bottom of a bin near to one of the entrances to the Porte d'Auteuil metro station. Mazierri got out of the car to tell the driver of the tow truck to move along and it was at this moment that two of the kidnappers, who had been hiding nearby, made off in Mazzieri's car. and tried to induce him to call the kidnappers and tell them to release their hostage.