RUSSIAN SENTENCES ON BRITISH ENGINEERS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 11094, 20 April 1933, Page 3

RUSSIAN SENTENCES ON BRITISH ENGINEERS

British Government Takes Immediate Action by Banning 80 per cent, of Russian Imports, including Butter, Grain, Cotton, Petroleum and Timber.

IMPRISONMENT AND DEPORTATION

Appeals Against Sentences of Imprisonmert

London, April 10 Despatclien from Moscow state that ttK - trial was concluded last evening nf 'the six Hrilish engineers and the employees of the Metropolitan Vickers Company on < barges Xu elicited sabotage. espionage and bnh- ° Xo death sentences were imThe court dea.lt with the Biitisn ■iccuscd as follows. Mr W. H- Thornton, three years imprisonment. Vlr \V. H. MacDonald, two yearn. Messrs .1. Cushny, C. Nordwall and A . Monkhouso to he deported within three days. M>- Gregory acquitted, gleveii of the Russian accused were sentenced as follows: Madame Kutosova, IS months’ imprisonment. , Guser, Lobanov and Sukharoutchi.jn 10 years. Sokolov, Zorin and Kotlyarevsky, eight years. Krasthenninikov, live years. Oleinik, three years. Lebedev, two years. Sibevt was acquitted. Barred for Five Years. The president of the court, M. Ulrich, announced that the three men to be deported would not bo allowed to return to Russia for five y eas. Monkhouse. Nordwall and Cushny. and probably Gregory, will leave Russia to-night. It is announced that an appeal in being lodged against the sentences on Thornton and MacDonald. It is believed that these sentences may be commuted. There was remarkable excitement during the hours of waiting for the Judges’ decision. Outside the court hundreds of npoclators paced up and down and ate sandwiches. Others played dice or cards. The British accused spent the time with their British solicitor, Mr Turner in the room behind the court. Nearing the End. The staff of the British Embassy with serious faces, paced the corridors. .Anxiety was apparent in everyone connected with the case. 'The crowd included many beautiful i women of every class. Russian mes- j sengem were continually darting to the telegraph office carying despatches for every part of the globe. When the Judges reassembled M. Ulrich contended that Thornton was the chief instigator and said Monkhouse was concerned with him. Death-like silence marked the closIng.of the president's speech. The prisoners in the dock with bated breath. Interest in London. Intense excitement prevailed in London .last evening. Many clubmen waited until midnight watching the tape machines. ■ Special editions, of the evening newspapers contaning details of the sentences were quickly sold in the West End streets. There was a general feeling of relief, coupled with

sympathy for Thornton and MacDonald. The mother of MacDonald, who lives in Sheffield, refused to be interviewed. His sister stated that her moGu-r had received the news of the i-enience of MacDonald quietly. MonkJioiiso’s wife naturally was delighted that her husband wa.s not to be imprisoned. "At the same time,” she said, ‘‘it is a bitter end to the eight years of indefatigable work he lias done for the Soviet. He has many friends in Russia a.nd has worked ceaselessly for the Union. The idea that he could be guilty of such charges is, monstrous.’’ Soviet Efforts to Remain Friendly. Moscow, April 19. As similar sentences previously have been occasionally commuted, there io a ray of hope that the appeal by Thornton and MacDonald will be successful. The deportees consider it inadvisable at present to comment on the trial, but they are deeply affected by their comrades’ sentences. Madame Litvinoff, wife of the Soviet’s Foreign Commissar, is giving a dance this evenng, towhch foreign dplomats and press representatives have been invited. This is construed as an indication of the anxiety of the authorities! to resume - friendly relations with foreigners after the strainI fed (situation due to the trial, when many Russians refused to shake hands with foreign friends for fear of becoming involved with the “British spies.” The Ban on Imports. EFFECTIVE OX .WEDNESDAY. London, April 19. The Foreign Office stated this morning that a meeting of the Privy Council had been summoned for the purpose of authorising a proclamation under the Russian Goods and Imports Prohibition Act. Subsequently His Majesty held a Privy Council at Windsor Castle. It was attended by the Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, and the Acting Prime Minister, Mr Baldwin. The proclamation was then signed, it is to become effective on April 26. ■ It prohibits 80 per cent, of Soviet imports, including butter, grain cotton, petroleum and timber. . Cabinet’s Decision to Act Swiftly. The Dally Telegraph’s political writer says that a hurriedly-summon-ed meeting of the Cabinet yesterday decided that if sentences of imprisonment were passed on the British accused in Moscow, swift action would be taken in accordance with the Act named. Authority in the matter was delegated to Sir John Simon. * Owing to the lateness of the hour when the news of the result of the trial was received last night, few of the morning newspapers comment on the sentences editorially. As the news spread there was everywhere a general feeling of relief that the sentences were much lighten than had seemed likely from the bitter spirit manifested at the trial.