"SPIES” TRIAL

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 298, 15 September 1927, Page 9

"SPIES” TRIAL

TIRADE AGAINST ENGLAND CHARGES AGAINST BRITISH MISSION (Rec. September 14, 7 p.m.) London, September 14. The Moscow correspondent of the “Daily Express,” detailing the spies’ trial, says the State prosecutor made a five hours’ speech, which was mainly an indictment against England and Sir Austen Chamberlain’s Note, which is described as full of lies, blackmail, .and hypocrisy. The prosecutor alleged that Britain had been sending whole consignments of spies to Russia, the final aim always being the blowing up of the Baltic fleet in order to open the road to Leningrad. Information which the British spy masters, Captain (name omitted) and Colonel Meiklejohn asked Goyer aud Klopushkin to obtain usually concerned the fleet. Spies were recruited from among members of the Russian aristocracy, because counterrevolution and espionage were inseparable. He further alleged that the Dutchman Goyer was entrusted with the most important work, because he chose informers with great skill. He worked on behalf of the British mission in Moscow.

This Sir Robert Hodgson (British Charge d’Affaires) has since explicitly denied.

Professor Nikitin, the talkative Soviet poison gas expert, who like his wife to have silk stockings, in return for which he gave what he said was harmless information, received a year’s imprisonment.

ALLEGED CONFESSION London, September 13

The “Central News” Leningrad correspondent says that nine supposed British spies were summarily shot immediately after the trial, including Goyer, who was described as the master spy, and who allegedly confessed. “I confessed," he is reported to have said, “not to save my life, but to let everybody know the crimes of my masters—the British Intelligence Service.”

PREMATURE REPORT London, September 13. The report that nine alleged British spies, convicted in the recent Soviet trial, were shot is declared to be premature. Latest reports from Leningrad state that the spies have not yet been executed.

WAR SCARE CAMPAIGN (Rec. September 14, 10.5 p.m.) London, September 14.

The Riga correspondent of “The Times” states that according to the Baltic Press a Norwegian diplomatist, on behalf of the British Government, informed the Soviet that none of the accused sentenced to death for spying worked for the British Government. The Soviet is exploiting the trial throughout Russia for a war scare campaign.—“ The Times."