To the astonishment of France, Mr Maurice Papon (87), the retired official on trial for crimes against humanity for his role in the second World War deportation of 1,560 French Jews, was freed on bail by the Bordeaux assize court yesterday.
Three magistrates said Mr Papon's liberation was justified by his great age, poor health and the length of the three-month trial. There was little risk of him fleeing, they added, and the former government minister represented no threat to public order.
The move enraged 35 Jewish plaintiffs and their lawyers. They blame Mr Papon for the murder in Nazi death camps of 72 close relatives - including eight adolescents and 18 children below the age of 10. All were deported under Mr Papon's authority between August 1942 and May 1944.
"I'm taking the next train home," Mr Rene Jacob, one of the plaintiffs said. "The 1,600 people he sent to their deaths - did anyone worry about their health? Did they have the right to be free? It's disgusting. Is this what France is about? Is this justice?"
Mr Papon's lawyer, Mr JeanMarc Varaut, said the decision meant Mr Papon's trial could now be fair. Mr Varaut had called Mr Papon's imprisonment since October 7th cruel and inhuman. He says under the European Convention of Human Rights the trial should be abandoned altogether.
The 35 civil plaintiffs and 15 organisations who have also filed charges disagree. "No defendant has ever enjoyed so many privileges," Mr Bertrand Favreau, the lawyer for the Human Rights League, complained. The Bordeaux prefecture has spent nearly £1.2 million refurbishing the assize court for Mr Papon's trial. Three hundred gendarmes ensure security for the trial, and Mr Papon's police bodyguards address the former budget minister as "Mr Minister".
Mr Papon underwent triple bypass surgery in June 1996 and complained of feeling unwell during Thursday's session. On Thursday night, 10 hours after two doctors issued a report saying prison conditions endangered his health, he was transferred to a hospital cardiology ward.
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