NEWTON'S OPTIC:TODAY MARKS a significant anniversary in the resolution of one of Europe's worst civil conflicts, as the world recalls an event described at the time as "a turning of the page of history", writes Newton Emerson.
On this day in 1998, former French cabinet minister Maurice Papon was finally convicted of crimes against humanity. As vice-prefect of the collaborationist Vichy government between 1941 and 1944, Papon worked closely with occupation forces to commit sectarian mass murder throughout the partitioned enclave.
In 1944, as it became increasingly obvious the war was lost, Papon contacted agents in the French resistance to guarantee his survival. The ploy worked and he became a respected colonial administrator in the new post-war republic, serving in Corsica, Morocco and at length in Algeria, where his expertise in ordering the torture of civilians greatly progressed the policing and justice situation.
In 1958, Papon took that progress to its logical conclusion by receiving the French resistance medal from president Charles de Gaulle and becoming police chief of Paris. He was heavily implicated in the 1961 "Paris massacre" of 200 peaceful Algerian protesters but survived the scandal by dumping all the bodies in the Seine. He received the Légion d'honneur from de Gaulle.
However, in 1967, he was forced to resign over the "disappearance" of a Moroccan political dissident. Papon was parked in a well-paid job with the state-subsidised firm that was building Concorde.
His rehabilitation came with his appointment as French finance minister in 1978 but fell apart the following year when the official archives were opened and his wartime role was exposed. Relatives of the dead found his signature on execution orders and lawyers and journalists began compiling the case against him.
At his trial, the longest in French history, Papon was accused of killing 1,690 Jewish men, women and children. In his defence, he explained he had merely planned, ordered and covered up the extermination - everyone had an equal responsibility for creating the political conditions. He also claimed to have deported Jews to concentration camps in passenger carriages rather than freight wagons, out of concern for their welfare.
His conviction was regarded as a turning point for France. After all the years of lying, excuses and official appeasement, holding Papon personally accountable for his crimes represented true rapprochement with the past.
But Papon still regarded himself as a wronged elder statesman. He expressed no remorse and went on the run when his 10-year sentence was announced. Following his extradition from Switzerland, he was finally jailed in 1999 but he continued to plead innocence and claim discrimination.
In 2002, the European Court of Human Rights ruled he should have been allowed to appeal his initial sentence even though he had fled from custody. He was released and awarded €65,400.
Papon died in his sleep last year, aged 96. The funeral was sparsely attended.