Papon ill, trial suspended

Bordeaux - The trial in France of the accused Nazi collaborator, Mr Maurice Papon, was suspended until Monday after he was taken…

Bordeaux - The trial in France of the accused Nazi collaborator, Mr Maurice Papon, was suspended until Monday after he was taken to hospital with bronchitis, Judge Jean-Louis Castagnede said yesterday.

Mr Castagnede said he was told by doctors at the Haut Leveque hospital that Mr Papon, who has a heart condition, was undergoing tests in the intensive care unit and his condition would not allow him to be in court "either today or tomorrow".

Mr Papon (87) had stayed in hospital overnight after a first bout of illness shortly after the start of his trial on October 8th. He is accused of ordering the arrest of 1,560 Jews from the Bordeaux region during the German occupation in the second World War, when he was a senior civil servant in the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. He has denied the charges.