Jail Sentence Begins For Papon

Convicted Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon has begun serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps. But his lawyers Saturday began seeking new legal avenues to freedom for the man nabbed two days earlier at a Swiss ski resort.

Papon, 89, convicted in 1998 of complicity in crimes against humanity during World War II, was spending his second night at the Fresnes prison hospital, south of Paris.

"Physically, he is tired, but, morally, he remains surprising, very combative and calm," attorney Francis Vuillemin said after he and Papon's other lawyer, Jean-Marc Varaut visited their client Saturday morning.

Papon, brought to Fresnes prison Friday night, was greeted with "boos" from other prisoners. He was then fingerprinted, photographed and hospitalized - a precaution recommended because of a heart condition, prison officials said. It was unclear when he might be transferred to a regular cell.

On Thursday, Swiss police arrested Papon in Gstaadt, a ski resort frequented by the wealthy, reports CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton. His capture ended the 18-year struggle for justice by relatives of some of the Jews whom Papon arrested and sent to a French transit camp outside Bordeaux from where they were shipped to Auschwitz. Only a few survived.

"It's a double triumph for us. He's behind bars and showed he's a coward," said Georges Geldman, who was rounded up at age 10 with his mother. He was released; she died.

Papon had fled France to avoid going to jail. In his absence, the country's highest court upheld his conviction and 10-year sentence for his World War II role in sending Jews to death camps.

French President Jacques Chirac declared that justice had finally prevailed and the capture of the fugitive "re-establishes the rule of law."

The Court of Cassation ruled Thursday that Papon lost his right of appeal by failing to report to prison as required before Thursday's hearing. Under French law, the court ruling automatically confirms the conviction.

A dramatic statement signed by Papon was circulated Wednesday saying the former Vichy official would go into "exile" to avoid the injustice of going to jail.

"To this ultimate challenge, there is only one response in accordance with honor: exile, as painful as it might be for a man in his 90th year," Papon said in his four-paragraph statement.

Papon's whereabouts were initially a mystery, but the French daily Liberation reported Thursday that Papon headed for Switzerland before he was scheduled to hand himself over to police for Thursday's appeal.

CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton

His signature was found on documents organizing timetables for trains to deport Jews.

The six-month trial, which ended in April 1998, reopened a chapter in French history that most of the French preferred to forget. Papon's case was a trial of the entire Vichy regime, which not only carried out the Nazi racial laws, but did so with enthusiasm.

Like many collaborationists, Papon did a quick change after the war, posing as a savior of the Jews and even a member of the resistance. He became a cabinet minister in postwar governments, and was chief of police in Paris under President Charles de Gaulle.

On Saturday Papon's lawyers were studying new legal avenues to freedom for the former budget minister. Papon no longer has the right to appeal, but he could ask for a presidential pardon, or -- as his lawyers have suggested -- take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

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