July 8


ISRAEL:

Israeli fury at French pension for Papon


Israel's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem protested Sunday against a French
court decision to restore the pension rights of Maurice Papon, who was
convicted for involvement in Nazi war crimes against the Jews.

Papon, 92, was sentenced to 10 years in jail but walked free last
September for medical reasons after serving just three years.

"Yad Vashem vehemently protests against the decision to restore pension
rights to war criminal Maurice Papon," the memorial's administration said
in a statement.

"This decision, as well as the decision to free Maurice Papon prematurely
is a violation of justice ... and an insult to the memory of the victims
of the Holocaust and its survivors," it said.

The statement however praised the position taken by French Justice
Minister Dominique Perben.

Perben argued families of victims would be able to seize Papon's assets
after he won back his pension rights Friday with a decision by France's
top administrative court, the Council of State.

The council argued it was not legal under France's new criminal code to
deny Papon his pension. Payments were suspended in October 1999 when his
appeal against charges of complicity in crimes against humanity was
rejected.

Papon served as a high official in the wartime Vichy regime in Bordeaux
during World War Two. He was convicted in April 1998 for his role in the
deportation of around 1,500 Jews.

He later became a government minister and chief of police in Paris.

(source: Agence France Pressw)