October 21, 1999
Web posted at: 10:31 p.m. EDT (0231 GMT)

In this story: Swiss vow to arrest fugitive Papon's lawyers to appeal to European court RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

PARIS (CNN) -- French authorities have launched a worldwide search for convicted Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon, who fled into exile to avoid a 10-year prison sentence.

Embarrassed French prosecutors said they would seek the extradition of the 89-year-old former official of the wartime Vichy regime, who was convicted of helping the Nazis deport more than 15,000 French Jews from Bordeaux during World War II.

Relatives of the victims expressed outrage that Papon was allowed to remain free while he appealed his conviction, facilitating his escape.

"The message is that the powerful are able to get off free and that the weak pay," said Arno Klarsfeld, a lawyer representing the families.

Though Papon was known to have left France for Switzerland last week, his whereabouts are unknown. Swiss police have promised to arrest him if they find him.

On Thursday, France's Supreme Court rejected Papon's appeal of his conviction on the grounds that he didn't show up, clearing the way for issuance of an arrest warrant. Some relatives of victims said Papon's flight was tantamount to a confession of guilt.

"It's not important that he goes behind bars. What's important is that he'll live out the rest of his life as a coward," said George Geldman, whose mother was deported to a Nazi death camp when he was 10.

"Papon's most symbolic act was his flight, which was his confession. Everyone understood that," said Gerard Boulanger, one of a group of victims and family members who began pressing for charges against Papon in 1981.

Papon's lawyer, Jean-Marc Varaut, said he planned to appeal Thursday's decision to the European Court of Human Rights. However, that would not prevent Papon from going to jail if he were caught.

Papon, who was the pro-Nazi Vichy regime's second-ranking official in the southwestern Bordeaux area, escaped a purge of collaborators after World War II and went on to a distinguished career as Paris' police chief and budget minister.

In 1981, a group of victims and family members brought civil charges against Papon in an effort to pressure authorities into pursuing a criminal prosecution.

For 17 years, Papon's victims, their families and their lawyers accused French officials of delaying proceedings. In April 1998, when he was finally found guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity, he was allowed to remain free while awaiting appeal.

While some victims and family members have accused the French government of aiding and abetting Papon's flight to avoid the embarrassment of sending him to jail, Justice Minister Elizabeth Guigou denied the charge.

Guigou said she wants to revise the law that let Papon remain free pending appeal. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and other officials have vowed to bring him to justice.

Correspondent Jim Bittermann and Reuters contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.