CONDEMNED FROM THE LEFT

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 17

CONDEMNED FROM THE LEFT

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) LONDON, Aug. 26. The British philosopher, Lord Bertrand Russell, last night cabled the Soviet Communist Party leader, Mr Leonid Brezhnev, demanding an immediate halt to the Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia. The cable read: “The Left cannot recognise negotiation' with Czechoslovakia under duress, the taking of hostages and occupa-

tion by hundreds of thousands of troops are entirely unacceptable. “The Soviet occupation must end at once. The

Czechoslovak leadership’s principles and massive popularity ensure that the threat of the restoration of capitalism in Czechoslovakia is a complete myth. “Elementary liberties are not a threat to socialism but fundamental ingredients. “Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia strengthens reactionary forces in the West and throughout the world,” it concluded. (A radio station calling itself “the free legal Czechoslovak radio, the station in Pilsen,” was heard today appealing to the British philo-

sopher to “help us save our freedom.”) The French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, said today the invasion of Czechoslovakia could be defined under international law as a war crime.

Mr Sartre, on holiday in

Rome, said in an interview with the pro-Communist newspaper “Paese Sera”: “In whose interest and to what advantage can a Socialist country take such an attitude? “I consider it pure aggres-

sion, such as is defined in terms of international law as a *war crime’.” He said'the invasion could be compared with the American aggression in Vietnam, which was "ignoble genocide.”

“But that does not alter the seriousness of the act which the Soviets have committed in Czechoslovakia. . . . In my view they have committed a serious political mistake,” Mr Sartre said. “At a time when the greatest unity and solidarity is needed among democratic forces . . . no-one has the right to take action which can produce the opposite effects.”

The philosopher said he hoped that the events in Czechoslovakia would result in a defeat of Stalinism and bring economic and political liberty to the Socialist world, including the Soviet Union.