Bordeaux - A French appeals court yesterday ruled that the convicted war criminal Maurice Papon would have to spend a rare night in jail pending a verdict on the final appeal of his 10-year jail.
Mr Papon (89) was sentenced in April 1998 to 10 years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in rounding up 1,560 Jews who were later sent to Nazi death camps in Germany and Poland. He has remained free pending various appeals and has spent only three days in detention in 18 years of judicial proceedings.
Papon's lawyers had asked a court in Bordeaux to exempt him from a mandatory stay behind bars the night before France's highest appeals court, the Cour de Cassation, is set to rule on his appeal. The Cour de Cassation is due to hand down its verdict on October 21st.