REICHSTAG FIRE TRIAL

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20985, 13 October 1933, Page 11

REICHSTAG FIRE TRIAL

i •$> I POLICE EVIDENCE NEWSPAPER STATEMENTS DENIED < (united press association- iir euscteic { XELEG-lUPIt Curi'IUOHT.) j (Received October 12, 5.5 p.m.) i BERLIN, October 11. i Police-Lieutenant Latiet, a trim | uniformed figure, to-day gave evi- | dence of the scene when lie entered I the burning Reichstag. He said he i rushed to the central session chambcr and saw curtains blazing right ! and left, and a burning cushion on the floor, while over the dais burning curtains looked like a burning organ with flames for organ pipes. "I returned to the door and shouted, 'lncendiarism! It's burning in every corner.' Later I learned that van der Lubbe had been arrested, dressed only in trousers. I asked him if a cap, tie, and piece of soap I picked up were his. He replied, 'Yes.' He admitted setting fire to the Reichstag. I asked why, and he laughed and said, 'Nothing.' " Latiet added, "I had the impression that I was dealing witli a madman." The prosecutor asked if he noticed many inflammables and Latiet replied, "About 20 or 30 pieces of charred cloth." The prosecutor: The newspapers have declared that there were some hundredweights of paper and other inflammables. Latiet: We searched the place meticulously, even the cupboards, but I saw nothing anywhere. Dr. Teichert petitioned that Dimitrofr (another of the accused) be allowed to attend, as it was important that the accused should hear the proceedings. The court ruled that his behaviour tending to bring the proceedings into contempt, justified his exclusion. The trial is expected to last three more days.

EXCLUSION OF DIMITROFF FOREIGN LAWYERS i PROTEST ; FAIR TRIAL NOT RECEIVED (Received October 13, 12.31 a.m.) | BERLIN, October 12. ; Five American, Bulgarian, and French lawyers attending the Reichstag fire trial protested to the president of the court against the exclusion of Dimitroff, emphasising that the other two Bulgarians, Popoff and Taneff, understand little or no German, while the proceedings. strangely, were not translated. None of the foreign defendants was represented by a lawyer of his own choosing, so Dimitroff was both defendant and lawyer. His lack of knowledge of German procedure j brought him into conflict with the court. His exclusion meant that he could not receive a fair trial. If j the Bulgarians were found guilty it] i would be impossible to convince the I ! world of the objectivity and impar-j S tiality of German justice. ; I j ! BANNING OF "OBSERVER"! ; i JIR GARVTN NOT SURPRISED j i j LONDON, October 11. Mr J. L. Garvin, editor of the "Observer,"' says he is not surprised at the banning of his newspaper in Germany. He had expected it before. "It is impossible for the 'Observer' to be edi + and written to satisfy German censorship," he said. "The 'Observer' has its duty and inI tends to perform it." 1032 PEACE PETITION NAZI REQUEST REFUSED j I GENEVA, October 11. i Mr Arthur Henderson flatly re-! fused to hand over to the German delegation the peace petitions signed by thousands of Germans in 1932, and presented to the Disarmament ] Conference. Dr. Paul Goebbels, < German Minister for _ Propaganda,j recently enquired anxiously what Dossibility there was of its return, | suggesting that punishment of the I signatories was contemplated.