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- WORLD, Page 33World NotesFRANCEA Fugitive Unfrocked
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- For weeks he had been living in the tranquil priory of
- Saint-Francois in Nice. Then one morning last week, police
- swooped down and arrested Paul Touvier, 74, the intelligence
- chief of the Lyons militia during the Nazi Occupation. Twice
- after World War II, Touvier was sentenced to death for
- collaborating with the Nazis and torturing and executing French
- Resistance members. He escaped and stayed hidden until the
- statute of limitations expired in 1967. In 1971 Touvier received
- a presidential pardon. Two years later Touvier was charged
- again, this time with crimes against humanity, to which the
- statute does not apply. Again he escaped.
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- The Touvier case has raised embarrassing questions. Police
- followed his trail through several Catholic monasteries.
- Saint-Francois is run by right-wing followers of Monsignor
- Marcel Lefebvre, the schismatic bishop excommunicated last year.
- Asked Richard Wertenschlag, Grand Rabbi of Lyons: "How could
- ecclesiastical institutions give cover to one who committed
- crimes against humanity?"
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