UNREST IN RUMANIA

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28728, 28 October 1958, Page 11

UNREST IN RUMANIA

Mass Arrests Made (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec 11 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 27. Western tourists today reported an extremely tense situation in Rumania and said that mass arrests had been made there by Communist* officials who feared a Hun-gary-style revolution, the United Press International reported from Vienna. Prisons were reported packed. A number of lawbreakers sentenced for minor offences were said to have been turned loose to make room for others gaoled to prevent their actively working on a revolt. According to the tourists’ reports, the agency said, mass arrests have been followed by quick sentences without the formality of trials. Families who formerly belonged to the more wealthy classes of Rumanian society were watched especially closely by the Communist militia, these sources said. Each time they spent a large sum of money, they were questioned about where they got it. If they could not prove that they earned the money by work, they usually were imprisoned with no further explanation. The tourists said that only increased terror has been able to postpone the blaze. Opposition to the Communists had mushroomed among Rumania’s peasantry. Many peasants were forced to work up to 16 hours a day in the fields, and often had to walk several miles to and from their work. The tourists said many Rumanians told them that the Communist Party could no longer count on the reliability of most of its members. Rumanians generally felt that something was bound to happen soon aimed at the Communist regime. The whole population was living under the terror of the Communist Party militia, the tourists said.