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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2002)
INTERNATIONAL v rME BATTALION 9A Thursday, September 19, 2002 |Jazi aid Papon freed efore sentence was up grater IS (AP) — Frail but now v of our pe-a free man, wartime collaborator lan the re; Maurice Papon walked out of Rumsfeld prison Wednesday and into a tteeonUc;storm of public outrage after 'g Wednesijudues ruled him too old and with its iK sick to finish his 10-year sen- nions tern e for helping send Jews to e Iraq’s “r Nati death camps. s for mo\-aBlo victims of France's ‘paring - wanime regime and their fami- liel. the decision by appeals court jud. es to release the 92-year-old Papon after serving less than thn ; years of his sentence erased ■ huge moral victory they won will) his 1998 conviction. mi Hi plans After the longest trial in French history, Papon was con victed for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in deporting 1,690 Jews to Germany as second-in-command of Bordeaux area police. Most were sent to Auschwitz death camp and only a few survived. Papon fled to Switzerland after his conviction, but was arrested and began serving his sentence in October 1999. “I can’t believe this is hap pening," said Colette Guttman, as she watched Papon shuffle out of Paris' La Sante prison into a [}Cm1 e Ru Nazi collaborator released from prison ■ormer French official Maurice Papon, 92, convicted of collaborating with the Nazis and sending French Jews to Nazi death camps, was released from prison Wednesday after a court ruled he was t> > old and sick to serve out his 10-year sentence. ted Sc IGN ’55 HAI! wv-lights Walton l to Texas t< ■ 942-1944: Papon ■erves pro-Nazi ■ichy regime as ■eputy prefect in Hie Gironde ■refecture in ■outhwestern ■ranee. ■ 958: Named Paris ■olice chief. ■ 978: Named Budget minister in Kabinet. (981: Wartime role ■evealed by satirical ■weekly; top French Bssistance figures |ay Papon gave Bccasional service t( > the underground, Jut conclude he Ihould have resigned when the ^Boundup of Jews H|egan in July 1942. 1982: Holocaust 1 Victims file suit; prosecutors in Bordeaux, France, SOUMCE: Associated Pres open investigation. 1983: Papon first charged with crimes against humanity. 1987: Appeals court dismisses case for procedural irregularities. 1988: Papon again charged with crimes against humanity. 1995: State prosecutors in Bordeaux reduce charges to complicity in crimes against humanity. 1997: Court rejects Papon’s final appeal; trial opens Oct. 8 in Bordeaux. April 2, 1998: Papon found guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity for organizing arrests and deportations; absolved of complicity in subsequent deaths at Auschwitz. October 1999: Papon flees to Switzerland, is caught and returned to France to begin 10-year sentence. Sept. 18, 2002: Appeals court orders 92-year-old Papon freed. waiting car. "My father, my mother and my uncle were killed at Auschwitz because of people like Papon, who now have the right to rest in their old age.” Papon’s lawyers hailed his release as "a great victory.” Papon had triple coronary bypass surgery several years ago and has a pacemaker. His impris onment set off a debate about the ethics of jailing the elderly. Jewish groups accused France of turning its back on Holocaust victims. "We had fought so hard so he would stay in prison,” said Serge Klarsfeld. a Nazi hunter and historian who helped pro duce much of the evidence used at Papon’s 1998 trial. His release, he said, "gives a feeling of injustice.” "What I hope is that this sick man doesn't turn out to be healthy,” Klarsfeld said. The U.S.-based Simon Wiesenthal Center called the release “a bad case of mis placed sympathy.” Israel's Foreign Ministry also expressed regret. "A man who committed such grave crimes against the Jewish people and humanity ought to end his days in jail,” said Israel’s deputy foreign minister. Rabbi Michael Melchior. Papon himself was said to have been incredulous. "He didn’t believe it,” lawyer Jean- Marc Varaut told reporters out side the prison. "I told him he was free. He said: 'How did it happen?”’ Lawyers said Papon didn’t listen to the radio Wednesday morning, so convinced was he that this appeal would fail like all those before. He gathered his prison belongings in stunned silence, including framed photos of his dead wife and Gen. Charles de Gaulle, Varaut said. HAIR - SKIN - NAILS - nioxin . 4 ' i beauty i " hxi * 1 1 * ■ Joico hurt’s bees rusk tigi bgmg Sebastian nail one curatives american crew graham webb goldwell urban essentials paul mitchell bedhead back to basics creative nail | _ REINVENTED beautyfirsf^ Beauty Store “ Salon and more! College Station • 2050 Texas Ave S. Suite A • next to Old Serving Texas Aggies Since 1982 (979) 993-9994 24 Accusations and visions of peace at General Assembly ■ UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Amid more vio lence in the Middle East. Israel and the Arabs trad ed terrorism accusations at the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday but held out the chance for pe;ice in their 54-year-old conflict. I Israel blamed Palestinian terror attacks for rolling back effbrts toward a political settlement. Still, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said peace could still be achieved. I "Terror postponed their destiny. Terror post poned our willingness to end control over their lives,” Peres said, referring to Palestinian attacks and Israeli military occupation of towns in the West Bank and Gaza. I From the same podium, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud blamed Israel for using terror "to implement its policies of expan sionism and settlement.” I The leaders spoke as more violence erupted in the Middle East. I A bombing in Israel broke a six-week lull in Palestinian suicide attacks. A Palestinian blew himself up at a bus stop in a northern Israeli Arab town, killing one policeman and wounding two others. Two Palestinians also died — one killed by Israeli troops and the other apparently by Palestinians who suspected him of being a collab orator. Also, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli motorist in the northern West Bank. And in Lebanon, Hezbollah guerrillas opened up with anti-aircraft fire on Israeli fighter jets flying reconnaissance missions over the country’s south. That came as a water-diversion project in southern Lebanon triggered cross-border ten sions and threats. On Tuesday at the United Nations, the so- called Quartet of key global players trying to end the Arab-Israeli conflict said they were trying to forge a deal under which there would be a provi sional Palestinian state next year and a final settle ment of the conflict by 2005. But Israel rejected a Palestinian offer to halt attacks on civilians as the first stage of a gradual truce, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday he would settle for nothing less than a "total cessation” of violence. Peres said Wednesday that Israel accepts President Bush’s vision for Mideast peace, which he said is supported by the Quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO FIND THE CAMPUS BOOK STORE you COULD SAVE 15% OR MORE ON CAR INSURANCE Ask about our student discount and alumni affiliation. Low down-payment and convenient payment plans. Round-the-clock claim service. FREE RATE QUOTE 1-800-998-9945 DIRECT Discount not available in all states or in all GEIC0 Companies. Government Employees Insurance Co. • G6IC0 General Insurance Co. • GEIC0 Indemnity Co. • G6IC0 Casualty Co. These companies are subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. G6IC0 auto insurance is not available in MA or NJ. 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