Italians had protected the Jews. And the French authorities complained about it to the Germans... The French state, itself, has participated in the politics of extermination of the Jews." In his 36-minute final speech to the jury, Papon rarely evoked those killed during the Holocaust. He portrayed himself as a victim of "the saddest chapter in French legal history." He denounced a "Moscow Trial" and compared his status to that of the Jew Alfred Dreyfus in the 19th century. Having proved that Papon had organized eight "death trains," the plaintiffs' lawyers recommended a 20-year prison term, as opposed to life imprisonment, which is usually the norm for such crimes. Papon was convicted in 1998 as having been complicit with the Nazis in crimes against humanity. He was given a ten-year sentence but served less than three years. His lawyers filed an appeal in the Court of Cassation, but Papon fled to Switzerland under the name of Robert de La Rochefoucauld, in violation of a French law that requires one to report to prison before the beginning of the appeal hearing. He was recaptured in 1999, but was required to serve little time because of his advanced age and medical problems. The real Robert de La Rochefoucauld, a hero of the French Resistance who maintained that Papon had worked with the Resistance, had given Papon his passport to enable him to escape. Papon's appeal, scheduled for 21 October 1999, was automatically denied by the Court because of his flight. France issued an international arrest warrant, and Papon was quickly apprehended by the Swiss police and extradited. On 22 October 1999, Papon began serving his sentence at La Santé Prison in Paris. Papon applied for release on the grounds of poor health in March 2000, but President Jacques Chirac denied the petition three times. Papon continued to fight legal battles while he was in prison. His lawyers appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, where they argued that the French court's denial of his appeal on a technicality, rather than on the merits of the case, constituted a violation of Papon's right to appeal his conviction. The Court agreed in July 2002, admonishing the Court of Cassation and awarding Papon 429,192 French francs (about 65,400 euros) in legal costs but no damages. Meanwhile, Papon's lawyers pursued a separate action in France and petitioned for his release under the terms of a March 2002 law, which provided for the release of ill and elderly prisoners to receive outside medical care.