Salt Lake Telegram | 1942-02-19 | Page 5 | Blum Assails Petain Regime

I BLUM LUM ASSAILS r f PETAIN REGIME VICHY nellY Feb 19 CD Four lP-Four Four t correspondents representing the American press were hero notified q officially Thursday three hours before the opening of Frances France's war ar defeat trial at horn that they had been barred from the courtroom Other American correspondents were admitted RIOM i Unoccupied France Feb 19 up In jf In a dramatic outbreak Thursday at the opening session of the French war defeat trl trial l former Premier Leon Blum one of the defendants attacked the constitutionality not only of the I court but of the present government government govern- govern ment of France The trial was suspended immediately imf immediately im- im f mediately to permit the prosecuting ing attorney to prepare a reply gays Republic Still Exists Blum the socialist leader pale tad end haughty as before the war asked the court to declare Itself unconstitutional since he said the republic itself exists and under its Slaws laws laws only the chamber of deputies h has bas s a right to indict a minister while hile only the senate has the right to try him Blum and Frances France's time one-time generalissimo Maurice Gustave Gamelin a codefendant also clashed dashed over whether the cause of Frances France's defeat was military or political Gamelin in 10 n a preliminary statement statement state- state ment said that for the honor of the army and since his conscience was clear he refused to take a further part in the trial Gamelin Looks Ill III Pounding the table Blum interjected interjected interjected inter inter- that if the army were j a eliminated all that was left was to put the republic on trial r Gamelin alone of the five defend defendants de de- fondants fend ants looked tired and ill The Theother Theother Theother other three are former Premier Edouard former Air Minister Minter Minter Min Min- ister ter Guy La Chambre and Pierre Jacomet former administrator of national defense industries On hand to report this strange post-mortem post of Frances France's collapse and Germanys Germany's victory was a large battery of German and other axis correspondents while working across across from them was a smaller group group of American correspondents Only a handful of other spectators could squeeze in