On Europe 1, lawyer Arno Klarsfeld returned to the trial where he represented the association of the Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France against Maurice Papon, in 1998. He now defends the strategy he adopted at the time, by asking for only ten years in prison for the former senior official of the Vichy regime.
INTERVIEW
It was the longest trial in French judicial history.
In 1998, Maurice Papon, a former senior official in the Vichy regime during the Second World War, was sentenced to ten years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity.
From October 1997 to April 1998, dozens and dozens of people marched through the courtroom to convince people of Papon's role in the arrest and then deportation of hundreds of Jews between 1942 and 1944. On the bench of the civil parties , a young lawyer of 32 years, Arno Klarsfeld, represented the association of the Sons and daughters of Jewish deportees of France.
Unlike other lawyers who asked for a life sentence, he asked for "only" ten years in prison.
More than 20 years later, he returns to the microphone of Europe 1 on this strategy, which has paid off.
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"If we had asked for life imprisonment, the jury would never have followed us"
"It was a fight that was difficult because all the civil party lawyers wanted Papon to be sentenced to life imprisonment and the defense wanted him to be acquitted. I was in the middle all alone, with the press against me. , to ask for ten years in prison, ”recalls Arno Klarsfeld first.
But why "only" ten years in prison?
"Because he was not the préfet, he was the secretary general [of the Gironde prefecture]. Because all the prefects accomplished what he accomplished, because he was not zealous ", answers the lawyer.
Above all, he argues, "if we had asked for life imprisonment, the jury would never have followed us and Papon would have been acquitted."
"By asking for a sentence which was a fair sentence in relation to his crimes, I managed to convince the jury and he was ten years old," said Arno Klarsfeld.
"Or [without necessarily having convinced the jury] what I was saying was what the majority of the jury thought," continues the lawyer.
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"Relieved" at the announcement of the verdict
"At the end of the trial, I was relieved, because otherwise it would have meant that the administration which had arrested the Jews had its hands clean. (…) There, you show [with this verdict] that the administration must think before performing acts that they know to be illegal and inhuman acts, ”concludes Arno Klarsfeld.
Words that join those that the lawyer had made when the verdict was announced in April 1998: "It was a forward-looking trial to define what should be the administration of tomorrow. It should not be an administration like that of Maurice Papon, always ready to accomplish the worst ignominy as long as it is covered by the instructions of its hierarchy. The administration of tomorrow must be an administration with a conscience and with a soul. "
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