They started a campaign to bring Esterhazy to justice. ... In order to clear his name, Esterhazy asked for a trial behind closed doors by French Military Justice (10–11 January 1898). He was acquitted, a judgment which ignited anti-Semitic riots in Paris.

Was Dreyfus a traitor?

Had Dreyfus refused the pardon, he would have been returned to Devil's Island, a fate he could no longer emotionally cope with; so officially Dreyfus remained a traitor to France, and pointedly remarked upon his release: ... On 12 July 1906, Dreyfus was officially exonerated by a military commission.

What happened to Dreyfus during the degradation ceremony?

Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and military decorations before a large crowd of cheering onlookers in a “degradation ceremony” and was deported to Devil's Island, a penal colony off the coast of South America.