19th century illustration of French artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus on Devil Island, French Guyana Prison. Dreyfus was imprisoned on the island for five years after being falsely accused of treason for giving French military secrets to the German embassy in Paris, France. This miscarriage of justice later became known as the 'Dreyfus Affair', a political scandal that became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French history. It remains one of the most striking examples of a complex miscarriage of justice, where a major role was played by the press and public opinion. 1n 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated and promoted to a major in the French army. Artwork published in a magazine from June 1869.