ITALIAN BRUTALITY TOWARD BRITISHER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 122, 25 May 1936, Page 7

ITALIAN BRUTALITY TOWARD BRITISHER.

ambulance officer.

Faked Evidence and Mock Tribunal. DARING BUT VAIN ESCAPE. United Tress Association.— Copyright. (Received 12 noon.) LONDON, May 24. The Foreign Office has received news that Warrant-Officer L. J. Bunner, attached to the British ambulance unit in Abyssinia, who was arrested and detained at DiredaAva, has now been released. He is at Jibouti undergoing treatment for rabies. Warrant-Officer Bunner related a remarkable tale of official brutality to "The Times" correspondent. He was passing his luggage through the Customs at Diredawa on May 15 preparatory to boarding the train, lie said, when he was told that the police commandant doubted his identity. The British Consul, Mr. E. A. ChapmanAndrews, interviewed an Italian general on Warrant-Officer Bunner's behalf and returned to Harrar, believing all was well, but Warrant-Officer Bunner was arrested on entering the train on May 10. He was cross-examined for three hours through an interpreter by a staff colonel, staff captain and an intelligence officer, Captain Lucetti, in the presence of squads of police. A 10-year-old Abyssinian boy denounced him as Rudolf Brunner, an Austrian captain and chief of the Abyssinian intelligence service, as if such an organisation were conceivable.

Credentials Disregarded. Warrant-Officer Bunner's personal documents were examined. His passport had preceded him to Jibouti but his Red Cross identification papers were given so little credence that his passport would hardly have fared better. Captain Lucetti, pretending to fire a pistol at his own head, declared that it was a matter of life and death, adding significantly "to-morrow." The tribunal refused to call in Mr. Chapman-Andrews, declaring that he was Consul only to Haile Silassie and no longer enjoyed diplomatic status. The remainder of the hearing was carried on in Italian and was not interpreted. Warrant-Officer' Bunner was refused a bed and blankets and was marched to the prison, namely, a small incinerator, where he had to sleep on the floor. He was again questioned on May 17. Daring Escape from Incinerator. Making a daring escape, he left the incinerator at midnight on May 18, scal-

ing a 20ft wall while the guard courted Ethiopian women. He walked out of Diredawa barefoot, since it was impossible to climb the wall in his boots. He tramped for three days through thorns along the railway toward Jibouti and was two days without water. He bought sandshoes from a Somali. He found further progress impossible and returned to Diredawa, where he collapsed in a vomiting fit in a native hut, whose owner reported the presence of a sick foreigner to the authorities. Meanwhile, Mr. Chapman-Andrews was insisting on an inquiry. Warrant-Officer Bunner was finally allowed to depart with other Red Cross members, but his films and documents remain in the possession of the Italians, whose feeble attempt to pretend that he had tried to smuggle out dollars broke down when an olficer at the station admitted that it was a deliberate fake. "The Times" correspondent has informed the British authorities at Jibouti of all the circumstances. TROOPS SURPRISED. Half a Million Italians to Be Kept in East Africa. FAMILY REUNION HOPES FADE. (Received 1.30 p.m.) ROME, May 24. The Deputy-Viceroy, General Graziani, surprised the home-dwelling Italians who expected early demobilisation as soldiers not actually settled on the land in Abyssinia, by declaring that 500,000 troops* in East Africa will be maintained

on the present establishment, thus damping dreams of speedy family reunions. General Graziani issued a manifesto to the authorities at Addis Ababa announcing that territorial occupation in Abyssinia will be methodically developed. Home leave will be limited to temporary furlough to enable troops to marry and take their wives back. It is believed tUat this is to found military colonies. Many unemployed rural workers in the distressed areas of Italy seek free passages to Abyssinia with their families but much preparatory work will be necessary. YOUTH REVIEWED. Ceremonies Held Throughout Italy. ARABS AND SONG COMEDY. (Received 10 a.m.) ROME, May 24. Signor Mussolini was on horseback for 90 minutes while he watched a procession of the Fascist Youth organisation, including girls, at the celebration of the 21st anniversary of Italy's entry into the World War. II Duce, in a brief speech, said Italy was relying on her youth to defend her Empire. He added that they would be invincible. The review of the Balillas represented the Roman section of ceremonies held throughout Italy in which 831,399 boys and girls were* drafted in preliminary youth corps. A feature was a Libyan Balilla consisting of Arab boys, who marched past amid shrieks of applause. Their band played "Facietta Nefa" ("Little Blackface"), Italy's "Tipperfry," according to which "the sweetest o'iil I know" lives in Addis Ababa.