Clémenti was tried "in absentia" and sentenced to death, but was pardoned and allowed to return in the 1950s. Noting that he was on probation by 1953, the Communist paper "La Défense" alleged that the Fourth Republic was using his skills as a propagandist for the Special Air Service, which was fighting the war in Indochina. Seven years later, a scandal ensued after Dursort's wartime activities were exposed to public scrutiny while he was serving on the Parisian Council. His party, the Union for the New Republic, had forced him to resign by 1961.