I've always wondered - did Javert concoct the plan to put an innocent man on trial to take the fall for Valjean in order to lure him out of hiding, appealing to his decency? Or is it a coincidence?
shareNo, Javert did not set up Valjean.
I'm not sure what you mean for "it" to refer to when you say "is it a coincidence?"
If you mean "does another man happen to look like Valjean by coincidence?," then yes.
What I meant is did Javert - knowing that the mayor was in fact Valjean but couldn't prove it - pay off one of Valjean's prison mates to accuse some random defenseless person in order to compel Valjean to confess, thinking that Valjean would not be able to bear seeing the innocent man convicted in his place? If so then the plan worked to perfection! Or is it a coincidence that the accusation took place out of convenient happenstance?
shareNo, it definitely wasn't a setup.
Javert respects the law above all things and he'd be breaking the law if he tried to setup an innocent person.
Furthermore, the other man had already been arrested/awaiting trial for the crime of being Valjean before Javert knew anything about it. In the book, there's also several reasons why people suspect this man to be Valjean independent of Javert's testimony.