Fast-track appeal for Papon

Papon would not normally qualify for early release until 2004

STRASBOURG, France -- The European Court of Human Rights has agreed to give urgent consideration to a plea by the convicted French war criminal Maurice Papon that he is too old to be in jail.

But a spokesman for the court said it could still take nine months to decide whether to accept the case of the 90-year-old Nazi collaborator, who has twice had appeals for a pardon rejected by France's President Jacques Chirac.

The court would have to rule whether imprisonment, at Papon's age, violates European rights conventions against inhumane and degrading treatment.

It can advise but not order France to free him.

Papon began serving a 10-year jail sentence in October 1999 for his wartime role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps. He would not normally be eligible for early release until 2004.

But early release became a national issue this month when former Socialist Justice Minister Robert Badinter, whose Jewish father was gassed to death in the Auschwitz death camp, unexpectedly said that he should be released.

"We speak of crimes against humanity. There is a point where humanity must prevail over the crime," said Badinter, who is best known for abolishing France's death penalty in 1981.

Papon was a police supervisor for the pro-Nazi Vichy regime in southwestern France during World War II.

He was found guilty in April 1998 of helping to organise the transport of 1,560 Jews to death camps and fled to Switzerland to avoid jail but was sent back to France.

Before his wartime record was exposed in 1981, Papon served as Paris police chief during the Algerian War and later became France's budget minister.

He is the highest-ranking French official to be convicted of crimes against humanity. The debate over his continued imprisonment has split France's Jewish community and the political left, which both supported his trial and were then surprised by Badinter's call for his release.

Opponents have remarked that Papon would have already finished his sentence and been released if he had not for years used political connections -- including protection from the late Socialist President Francois Mitterrand -- to avoid being tried.

Reuters contributed to this report.

France debates future of Papon
January 15, 2001
Swiss return Nazi collaborator Papon to France
October 22, 1999
France launches worldwide manhunt for Nazi collaborator
October 21, 1999

European Court of Human Rights
Simon Wiesenthal Center

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.