Papon's career was considered more scandalous as he had been responsible, during his function as prefect of police of Paris, for the 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians during the war, and was forced to resign from this position after the "disappearance", in Paris in 1965, of the Moroccan anti-colonialist leader Mehdi Ben Barka.
Karier Papon dianggap lebih memalukan karena dia bertanggung jawab, selama fungsinya sebagai prefek polisi Paris, atas pembantaian Aljazair selama perang, dan terpaksa mengundurkan diri dari posisi ini setelah "menghilang", di Paris pada tahun 1965, pemimpin Maroko anti-kolonialis Mehdi Ben Barka.