Denazification, Murder (Dénazification, Meurtre) - During the German occupation, Paul Touvier was regional head of the secret service of the Milice française in Lyon - He was accused of numerous crimes against humanity, including an attack on a synagogue, the arrest, torture, and deportation of Jewish families and resistance fighters, and the executions of seven Jewish hostages in Rillieux-la-Pape on June 29, 1944 - He was acquitted on most charges in the appeal proceedings due to lack of evidence - According to the appeals court, he could also no longer be convicted for the executions of the hostages, as these acts did not qualify as crimes against humanity and were therefore already time-barred - The court justified this on the grounds that the Vichy regime had not been a totalitarian state and had not pursued a systematic “ideological hegemonic policy” (as the Nazi regime had done) - The cour de cassation found the appeal court's assessment to be contradictory, since on the one hand it confirmed that the executions of the hostages was carried out at the instigation of the Gestapo, but on the other hand it did not assume that crimes against humanity had been committed - The cour de cassation therefore overturned this part of the decision and ruled that the executions of the hostages did indeed constitute crimes against humanity, which are not subject to any statute of limitations - On the other points, it upheld the acquittals of the lower court
Art. 6, c), du Statut du Tribunal militaire international de Nuremberg; Loi n° 64-1326 du 26 décembre 1964; Art. 59, 60, 295, 296 et 297 du Code pénal