TRIAL OF PETAIN

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23259, 21 July 1945, Page 5

TRIAL OF PETAIN

Double Charge Of Plotting Prosecutor Seeks Death Sentence By Telegraph—N.Z. Pres® Assn.—Copyright LONDON, July 19. "When the trial of Marshal Petain begins in High Court of Justice on Monday, he will face a d üble charge of plotting against Hie niternal security of the French SI.o ' and of intelligence on behalf of tiie enemy.” states Reuter's correspondent in Paris. "An 11-page indictment lists the accusations under three separate heads—material, moral and political. It alleges under the first head that Marshal Petain signed an armistice, suppressed the Presidency of the Republic, and assumed full powers: and that after the French National Assembly at Vichy, in July, 1940, entrusted him with the fate of the Republic and the elaboration of a Constitution, he adjourned the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, never convoking them later. "Marshal Petain, under the moral head, is charged with ‘abhorring the Republic.’ It is alleged that he wrote a letter to Charles Maurras. leader of the Royalist newspaper 'L'Action

Francaise,' expressing the hope that the hereditary monarchy would be restored in France. "Marshal Petain is also charged under the moral head with being in touch with the secret Fascist society, the Gagoulards, having welcomed at Vichy such persons as Darnand, maintaining relations with de Brinon (the Vichy Minister in Paris), and accepting Laval as head of the Government. “Resigned to Defeat” “It is alleged under the political head that Marshal Petain resigned himself to defeat, accepted defeat, and damaged France's prestige by meeting Hitler at Montoire in 1940 and accepting degrading collaboration between the vanquished and the victors. “Regarding foreign policy, it is charged that Marshal Petain failed to protest when Japan invaded IndoChina; that he surrendered the Syrian and Tunisian bases, enabling the Axis to break the British blockade and supply their forces through French territory; that he placed the Levant airfields at the disposal of the enemy; that he ordered the opening of fire against the Allied troops who landed in North Africa; that he ordered the scuttling of French warships, preventing the French Fleet from proceeding to Allied ports; and that he instructed the Governor of the French Antilles at Martinique to destroy French warships and aeroplanes.” The French Public Prosecutor has announced that he will press for the death sentence, which is the maximum penalty under the French penal code for communicating intelligence to the enemy. "Both the prosecution and the defence will summon an imposing array of witnesses. The defence will call several important high-ranking officers. Among the witnesses to be called by the prosecution are four former Prime Ministers of France. They are M. Leon Blum, M. Edouard Daladier, M. Edouard Herriott, and M. Paul Reynaud. . Observers report that in spite of his 89 years, Marshal Petain is still in the best of health physically and that his mind is still active, except that he loses the power of concentration after a few hours of work. In view of this it has been decided that the Court will sit for only four hours each day.