LANGKAWI – Islanders here, especially expatriates and retirees under the Malaysia My Second Home scheme, have grown fascinated with the story of Rémy Daillet-Wiedemann and Leonie Bardet de Lestang after finding out about the Frenchman’s online persona.
The couple lived among a group of expats and permanent residents for the past six years along with Bardet’s three children. The community was caught by surprise upon learning that Daillet-Wiedemann allegedly tried to orchestrate the abduction of a child and made efforts to overthrow the French government from the Kedah holiday island.
Appearing normal, although awkward at times, their neighbours said the couple were generally accepted. However, one Briton said the pair would leave the children unsupervised for long periods, to the point that others living nearby would feed the kids.
Bardet has two children from her previous marriage, a girl aged 17 and a 9-year-old boy. With Daillet-Wiedemann, she has a 2-year-old boy. All are home-schooled.
Their decision to move to Malaysia is somewhat of a mystery, with the French press reporting that Daillet-Wiedemann has been in “self-exile” since 2015.
He has earned the title of “most wanted man in France” following his social media posts on a range of conspiracy theories. Online, he has an audience comprising fellow French nationals.
Offline, the couple were buddies with many in Langkawi, both foreigners and locals, and frequented restaurants and hotels. They also have business associates here.
Daillet-Wiedemann is a former politician with the centrist Democratic Movement in Haute-Garonne, southwest France. His father, Jean-Marie Daillet, was national councillor of the party and former head of the French prefecture.
Daillet-Wiedemann was booted from the political outfit in 2010, which many say led to him becoming a far-right campaigner. He reportedly sent flippers and a snorkel to Democratic Movement president François René Jean Lucien Bayrou to say the party is sinking.
In 2012, he launched a website dedicated to home-schooling, espousing the notion that education institutions are dangerous and filled with paedophiles – and was even quoted as saying schools are “a civil war killing more than the German occupation”.
This – like many of his conspiracy theories – gained traction in his home country.
To ensure home-schooled children receive adequate lessons, the French government deploys officers to monitor parents’ teaching. Daillet-Wiedemann allegedly “advised” parents to have guns prepared for such visits.
He embarked on a new “project” – overthrowing the French government – in 2015. However, this push did not gain much support.
He left for Langkawi with Bardet and her two children the same year, leaving behind his ex-wife and seven kids in France. After settling down on the island, the couple registered a plastic recycling business, RNGE Sdn Bhd, on December 2, 2016, buying materials from locals.
They then came to know Amor Adjal, a retiree working on a farm, who became their employee. He was tasked with building a machine to aid the pair’s plastic waste project.
Adjal told The Vibes that Daillet-Wiedemann said he “knew people from Putrajaya” and had plans to buy over a business operating in Muar, Johor.
He said he was unaware that the Frenchman remained politically active, often uploading videos and other content, including conspiracy theories against vaccination and 5G technology, online.
Daillet-Wiedemann is allegedly convinced that France is ruled by occult powers, and he must rebel against this.
He has also expressed admiration for the Nazi proponent Vincent Reynouard and the “Great Replacement”, a white nationalist conspiracy theory on European populations being demographically and culturally replaced by non-Europeans.
It was reported that he supports United States conspiracy group QAnon as well.
Not giving up on his plans to overthrow the French government, Daillet-Wiedemann on October 27 last year launched another “coup” effort on YouTube, saying the republic is “illegitimate, and its politicians corrupt”.
He was quoted as saying “It is us, Mr Macron, who will chase you out. You have betrayed France”, referring to President Emmanuel Macron. The video was later taken down by YouTube.
In his next move, Daillet-Wiedemann allegedly planned the abduction of an 8-year-old girl, who was kidnapped from her grandmother and “returned” to her mother by a group of men on April 18 this year.
The group named Daillet-Wiedemann as the mastermind. Some of its members have been indicted.
After the incident, Daillet-Wiedemann uploaded a video in which he said: “Big media is trying to discredit us as much as possible by accusing me of setting up abductions. Our organisation… returns children kidnapped by the state to parents, at their request. There was absolutely no kidnapping.”
His lawyer, Jean-Christophe Basson-Larbi, who is based in France, is of the opinion that what Daillet-Wiedemann did is not criminal, and said his client cannot be a suspect as he was living and working in Malaysia.
An international arrest warrant was issued on April 21 against Daillet-Wiedemann for purportedly influencing the kidnapping, and in the following month, French authorities deployed personnel to hunt him down.
The travel visas of Daillet-Wiedemann and Bardet’s family expired on May 21 after the French embassy denied them a letter of support to extend their stay here.
They were arrested by Malaysian authorities on May 30 for overstaying. Their lawyers have said efforts to reach the couple proved futile.
The pair and the three children are in limbo in Singapore after Bardet, who is six months pregnant, fell ill during deportation. She is now hospitalised near Changi International Airport. – The Vibes, June 14, 2021
Additional reporting by Ian McIntyre
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