Off with his stripes

On 22 December 1894, after several hours of deliberation, the verdict was reached. Seven judges unanimously convicted Alfred Dreyfus of collusion with a foreign power, to the maximum penalty under section 76 of the Criminal Code: permanent exile in a walled fortification (prison), the cancellation of his army rank and military degradation. Dreyfus was not sentenced to death, as it had been abolished for political crimes since 1848.

Conviction,_degradation,_and_deportation

Dreyfus was convicted of treason for his alleged crime of passing military secrets to the Germans. The Jewish artillery captain, convicted on flimsy evidence in a highly irregular trial, began his life sentence on the notorious Devil’s Island Prison in French Guyana four months later.

www.history.com

J'Accuse has become a not unknown epithet similar to the Queen's "off with his head" shout out before Jack's trial even began.*

In 1898, Major Hubert Henry, discoverer of the original letter attributed to Dreyfus, admitted that he had forged much of the evidence against Dreyfus and then Henry committed suicide. Soon afterward, Esterhazy fled the country. The military was forced to order a new court-martial for Dreyfus. In 1899, he was found guilty in another show trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, a new French administration pardoned him, and in 1906 the supreme court of appeals overturned his conviction.

*Readers of Lewis Carroll, and in particular, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Alice Through the Looking Glass may remember the "trial" of Jack for stealing the tarts.

On 12 July 1906, Dreyfus was officially exonerated by a military commission. The day after his exoneration, he was readmitted into the army with a promotion to the rank of major (Chef d'Escadron). A week later, he was made Knight of the Legion of Honour,[7] and subsequently assigned to command an artillery unit at Vincennes. On 15 October 1906, he was placed in command of another artillery unit at Saint-Denis.

Dreyfus served in WW-I attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Throughout all of his ordeal he remained loyal to France.

Researchers can visit the Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaïsme (Museum of Jewish art and history), which includes personal letters, photographs of the trial, legal documents, writings by Dreyfus during his time in prison, personal family photographs, and his officer stripes that were ripped out as a symbol of treason. The museum has an online platform dedicated to the Dreyfus Affair.

Here is a link to France: Military Justice System (2013).

Over the years, the French Military Justice System has progressively led to a system in which military justice is combined with that of ordinary justice. The government has sought to treat military personnel in the same manner as ordinary civilians with regard to offenses committed while on duty. The administration of justice does, however, differ depending on whether the service member committed an offense on French territory or on foreign soil. Another major distinction that remains between the military system and the civilian system is that of the competent jurisdiction to handle the administration of justice during times of peace and during times of war. During times of peace, the jurisdiction of all military courts is abolished. During times of war, military courts have primary jurisdiction to deal with offenses.