Maurice Papon - Papon's Release in 2002

Papon's Release in 2002

Papon applied for release on the grounds of poor health in March 2000, but President Jacques Chirac denied the petition three times. He continued to fight legal battles while in prison. His lawyers appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, where they argued that the French court's denial of his appeal on a technicality (rather than on the merits of the case) constituted a violation of Papon's right to appeal his conviction. The Court agreed in July 2002, admonishing the Court of Cassation and awarding Papon FF429,192 (approx. €65,400) in legal costs, but no damages.

Meanwhile, Papon's lawyers pursued a separate appeal in France, petitioning for his release under the terms of a March 2002 law, which provided for the release of ill and elderly prisoners to receive outside medical care. His doctors affirmed that Papon, by this time 92 years old, was essentially incapacitated. He became the second person released under the terms of the law, leaving jail on September 18, 2002, less than 3 years into his sentence. The former Justice Minister Robert Badinter expressed unexpected support, prompting indignation from the families of the victims and the lawyers Arno and Serge Klarsfeld.

Relatives of Papon's victims and human rights NGOs pointed out that many other detainees did not benefit from that law (including detainees in terminal stages of AIDS, or Nathalie Ménigon, a member of Action Directe still imprisoned as of 2007, despite suffering of partial hemiplegia, etc.) The Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH, Human Rights League) criticized the inequality before the law, under which Papon was freed while other prisoners did not have this luck. Israeli officials also expressed dismay.