France A Verdict on the Butcher

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In 1983, when Barbie was deported to France by Bolivia, where he had fled to avoid prosecution, many believed that he would never be brought to court because he knew too much about treachery and informants within the French Resistance. Indeed, Barbie had bragged that he would reveal the extent of French collaboration with the Nazi occupiers. Many French feared the result would rip open barely healed wartime divisions among themselves. It turned out, however, that the French followed the trial with calm rather than passion. The proceedings were regarded almost as a history lesson rather than an occasion to refight painful and never forgotten war experiences.

Barbie's defense during the trial was in the hands of his controversial lawyer, Verges, a flamboyant Marxist with strong sympathies for Third World causes. The lawyer, who is known for taking on the legal defense of accused terrorists, brought in to help him Jean-Martin M'Bemba, 45, an attorney from Brazzaville in the Congo, and Nabil Bouaita, 36, a lawyer from Algiers. In the closing days of the trial, Verges and his two aides began the long-advertised attempt to put France rather than Barbie on trial. Verges sought to shift the focus of attention from Barbie to the alleged crimes of France, other West European countries and the U.S. in the Third World. The lawyer demanded of the court, "Do crimes against humanity only merit this name when they are committed against Europeans?"

Following up on Verges' theme, M'Bemba cited the 1947 murder of thousands of rebellious Africans by French settlers in Madagascar. "Can we judge Barbie after what happened then?" asked M'Bemba. "If there is a race that has been perpetually oppressed from slavery until now, it is the Negro race." When the Congolese lawyer said he had shaken Barbie's hand as a mark of respect when he met him, a murmur ran through the courtroom. M'Bemba snapped back, "I can understand your reaction. You have not lived what I have lived."

An uproar occurred in court when Lawyer Bouaita described himself as a "Semite defending an anti-Semite." He drew a comparison between Barbie's actions in the SS and alleged Israeli complicity in the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon in September 1982. "There is no hierarchy of atrocity," he said, "no discrimination between cemeteries, no differences between suffering." When Bouaita denounced the "nazification of the Jewish-Israeli people" and accused the Israelis of responsibility for a "Palestinian genocide," the courtroom erupted with whistles and shouts.

After conducting such diversionary tactics, Verges surprised many in the courtroom by launching into a classic defense of Barbie, attacking what the lawyers claimed were inconsistencies in the evidence and testimony presented by the prosecution. "I am not saying this to mock the witnesses," said Verges, "but after 40 years memories become confused." Not above a bit of theatrics, he called the expulsion of Barbie from Bolivia illegal and, as such, a "dishonor for France."