LIFE IMPRISONMENT

Grey River Argus, 17 March 1945, Page 5

LIFE IMPRISONMENT

FRENCH “PURGE” TRIAL. DECISION UNPOPULAR. (Rec. 10.5). LONDON, March 15. The French High Court sentenced Admiral Jean Esteva, aged 64, former Resident-General in Tunisia, to life imprisonment, military degradation, and “national indignity,” for collaboration with the enemy. The defending counsel, Maitre Chresteil, criticised the Government for trying Admiral Esteva before Marshal Petain. He declared: “It is impossible to judge as to an alleged accomplice before judging as to the principal author of a crime. Admiral Esteva is an alleged accomplice, whom you have taken, as an experiment. His faults are personal ones, and you should judge him on his own record. You have her e an innocent man! You are judging Marshal Petain’s politics in trying him.” Loud cheering broke out at the conclusion of Chresteil’s address, and cheering broke out again when Admiral Esteva, in a final statement, declared that he was loyal to France, and that, if acquitted, he wished to serve in the fighting forces against the hated Boches, even in a humble capacity.