Jean McNair

Released In Exile
Full name:Jean Carol McNair
Date of birth:11. 10. 1946
Date of death:24. 10. 2014
Age:68† Deceased
Gender:Female
Race:Black
Era:1970s
State:North Carolina
Time Imprisoned:
2 Years 5 Months 29 Days
Time in Exile:
42 Years 2 Months 23 Days
Support
Black Liberation Anti-Imperialism Black Panther Party Black Liberation Army
Jean McNair

Biography

Jean McNair was a teacher and black revolutionary who along with her husband and three others hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 after it departed Detroit in order to get passage to Algeria so she and the group could join the International Section of the Black Panther Party. Eventually she and the group left Algeria and secretly entered France in 1973 and lived there under assumed identities with assistance from French supporters until being arrested by French authorities on May 26, 1976. Jean was imprisoned at Fleury-Mérogis Prison before being sentenced to time served for the hijacking. McNair and her husband later settled in Caen, Normandy where she founded the youth organization Espérance et Jeunesse in 1988. The nonprofit provided educational, social and professional assistance to more than 3,000 disadvantaged children. McNair remained a respected community activist for the remainder of her life.

Case

Fleury-Mérogis Prison
Charges: Air piracy — hijacking of Delta Air Lines Flight 841 (July 31, 1972)
Arrested: May 26, 1976
Sentenced: Nov 24, 1978
Incarcerated: May 26, 1976
Released: Nov 24, 1978
In exile since: Jul 31, 1972
Exile ended: Oct 24, 2014
Sentence: Five years, two years suspended — imposed by the Paris Assize Court on November 24, 1978, which convicted all four defendants for the July 31, 1972 hijacking of Delta Air Lines Flight 841. Having already spent approximately 912 days in pretrial custody at Fleury-Mérogis Prison since her May 26, 1976 arrest in Paris, she was released immediately after the verdict for time served. France refused the American extradition request and tried the case itself. During the imprisonment the four defendants contributed to the book Nous, Noirs américains évadés du ghetto.
Convicted: Yes — convicted by the Paris Assize Court, November 24, 1978; France refused extradition and tried the case itself
Institution State: France

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