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At the helm of his band, he became one of the most prominent figures of French music in the 90s. His left leaning political views saw him take position against globalisation, urban desertification in Bordeaux and the US-led invasion of Iraq.
On August 1, 2003, he killed his girlfriend Marie Trintignant while she was shooting a movie in Vilnius, Lithuania, by repeatedly punching her following a lovers' quarrel. This death caused considerable emotion in France. Nadine Trintignant , Marie's mother, actively sought a heavy sentence; Cantat's friends claimed he had been out of his mind and had not intended to cause real harm. He was sentenced in 2004 to 8 years in prisonA prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. Prisons conventionally are institutions authorised by governments and forming part of a country's criminal justice system, or as facilities for holding prisoners of war for manslaughter. The verdict was at first appealed by Marie's family, then by Bertrand Cantat, but both parties ultimately decided to cancel their appeals, which rendered the first 8 years judgment final.