Papon judge accused of bias

Bordeaux - The flamboyant lawyer, Mr Arno Klarsfeld came under fire from all sides in the trial of accused French Nazi collaborator…

Bordeaux - The flamboyant lawyer, Mr Arno Klarsfeld came under fire from all sides in the trial of accused French Nazi collaborator, Mr Maurice Papon, yesterday after he said the presiding judge had concealed a family link which that could affect his judgment.

Mr Klarsfeld, lawyer for one of the civil plaintiffs, said on Wednesday an uncle of chief Judge Jean-Pierre Castagnede Castanede was married to a Jewish woman whose two sisters, mother and father were deported from Bordeaux while Mr Papon, now 87, was a senior bureaucrat there during the second World War.

Lawyers for Mr Papon said they would not challenge Judge Castanede's position but one of them, Mr Francis Vuillemin, suggested Mr Klarsfeld acted in order to halt the trial "since it is becoming clear that Papon will be acquitted".