page_title: René Bousquet
section_title: Post-war
hierarchical_section_title: René Bousquet / Second World War / Post-war
caption_attribution_description: Trial Of The Former Prefet Of Marne, Reginal Prefet Of Champagne And The General Secretary Of The Police Of Vichy And Of Paris Under The Occupation, Before The High Court Of Justice.
context_page_description: René Bousquet was a high-ranking French political appointee who served as secretary general to the Vichy regime police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943. For personal heroism, he had become a protégé of prominent officials before the war and rose rapidly in the government.
  In 1949, he was automatically convicted as a Vichy official and sentenced to five years of Indignité nationale, but his sentence was reduced due to beliefs that he also aided the Resistance and attempted to preserve some autonomy for French police during the Nazi Occupation. Excluded from the government, he went into business. After receiving amnesty in 1959, Bousquet became active again in politics, supporting left-wing politicians through the 1970s, and becoming a regular visitor of François Mitterrand after his election as president in the 1980s.
  In 1989, after years of increasing accusations about his activities during the war, Bousquet was accused by three groups of crimes against humanity.
context_section_description: In 1949 Bousquet was the last Frenchman to be tried by the Haute Cour de Justice created on 18 November 1944. He was acquitted of the charge of "compromising the interests of the National defence", but was automatically declared guilty of indignité nationale for his involvement in the Vichy government. He was given the minimum sentence of five years on dégradation nationale, a measure immediately lifted for "having actively and sustainably participated in the Resistance against the occupier".
  As with other Vichy officials, Bousquet was excluded from the French public service. He made a career at the Banque de l'Indochine and in newspapers. He met with François Mitterrand through Jean-Paul Martin, Bousquet's former collaborator in Vichy. At the time, Martin was minister of over-sea territories and director of Mitterrand's cabinet.
  In 1957, the Conseil d'État returned Bousquet's Legion of Honour to him, and he was granted amnesty on 17 January 1958.
caption: Bousquet at his trial in June 1948
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "FRANCE - JUNE 21:  Trial Of The Former Prefet Of Marne, Reginal Prefet Of Champagne And The General Secretary Of The Police Of Vichy And Of Paris Under The Occupation, Before The High Court Of Justice.   (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)"}