Robert Badinter, behind France's abolition of the death penalty, dies age 95

Former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter, author of the abolitionist law in France, delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalt

Robert Badinter, a former French Socialist Justice minister who is best known for his work on the abolition of France's death penalty in 1981, died on Friday at age 95, French media including TF1 and BFM TV reported.

A Jewish intellectual, whose father died in a German concentration camp, Badinter was a target of hate for the French right, some of it tinged with anti-semitism.