January 13, 1898
French writer Emile Zola’s newspaper editorial, “J’accuse,” was printed. The letter exposed a military cover-up regarding Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain, who had been accused of espionage in 1894 and sentenced in a secret military court-martial to imprisonment in a South American penal colony. Two years later, evidence of Dreyfus’ innocence surfaced, but the army suppressed the information. Zola’s letter criticized the military for concealing its mistaken conviction.
