Barbie Trial -- Day 16 -- A written deposition is presented; a witness testifies

13:44 President Cerdini calls the session to order; asks that the accused present himself; Barbie refuses to appear; Cerdini calls on the bailiff to compel the accused to appear 13:45 The bailiff reads the names of the witnesses scheduled to give testimony in the session 13:48 Cerdini suspends the session while the bailiff goes to Barbie to compel him to appear 14:08 Cerdini calls the session to order; the bailiff reads Barbie's statement that he refuses to appear 14:10 Prosecutor Nogueres presents new information to the court, following a deposition made by the widow of a victim of Barbie's on June 2, 1987 (the previous day) 14:13 Vergès replies that the tardiness of the deposition precludes its admittance into court proceedings 14:15 Prosecutor Zimmerman asks the court to consider adding another civil party to the suit, Mrs. Lucette Furmanski 14:16 President Cerdini calls the first witness, Mrs. Vansteenberghe, to the stand 14:21 Mrs. Vansteenberghe, née Joly, presents herself to the court and is sworn in; the witness testifies, describing her arrest and subsequent interrogations at the Gestapo building at Place Bellecourt, in the presence of Barbie; the witness explains that, "by the end of the afternoon, I had no fingernails,"; the witness is a medical doctor, and explains that Barbie is easily identifiable by his pinky fingers, which are genetically anomalous; the witness presents x-rays, which show five broken vertebrae as a result of the interrogation; she has been paralyzed since the arrest 14:30 The witness was transported to the Montluc prison; she describes the total degradation of the humanity of the inmates; confrontation with Colonel Bernheim and torture inflicted by him; the witness describes the departure of the August 11 train transport to Auschwitz, which she watched; Mrs. Vansteenberghe describes the liberation of the prison by FFI forces (French Forces of the Interior) on August 24; the witness describes the power and emotionality of participating in the Resistance, and thanks the nation of England for their help during the war 14:43 President Cerdini asks the witness to describe in detail her memory of August 11, 1944, her identification of Barbie on that day, and the names of those she knew who were sent on that transport 14:48 Cerdini asks the witness how she was able to identify Barbie; she describes his facial features, an irregularity of his left ear, and his genetically anomalous pinky fingers 14:51 The Attorney General asks the witness how she is able to recall the dates of particular events with such precision; Mrs. Vansteenberghe replies that she kept track of the date by marking the days with a hair pin on the wall of her prison cell; the Attorney General asks her to discuss her husband's mission within the Resistance, which was to follow Barbie 14:57 Prosecutor Iannucci asks the witness to describe the execution of Resistance members after the last transport, on August 11, 1944 15:00 Prosecutor Zelmati comments on the particularity of Barbie's pinky finger, and asks President Cerdini to circulate a photograph of Barbie to the jurors 15:02 End of tape