BAIL REFUSED

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 124, 19 February 1941, Page 9

BAIL REFUSED

Prisoners’ Request Pending Court Of Appeal

ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S

REPLY

CHRISTCHURCH, February IS.

The Attorney-General, Mr. G. R. Mason, today refused a request from Harold Alexander Ostler and Travers Burnell Christopher Christie, who were sentenced in the Supreme Court in the morning to be allowed bail pending the hearing of their case by the Court of Appeal. Ostler and Christie were sentenced to imprisonment fbr a year on a charge of attempting to publish a subversive statement. Today they sent the following telegram to the Attorney-General. “Hereby make application for favourable consideration of bail pending appeal before Court of Appeal, Ostler and Christie, Paparua.”

The following is the telegraphed reply from the Attorney-General, “Your telegram received applying for favourable consideration of bail pending hearing of appeal. In view of clandestine nature of offence, bail cannot be granted.—G. R. Mason, AttorneyGeneral.”

It was stated by Mr. Justice Nortbcroft in the Supreme Court on Monday that the relevant section of the Emergency Regulations did not allow the Court to release the accused on bail unless directed by the AttorneyGeneral. It was the practice to release prisoners on satisfactory bail where the case was to go before the Court of Appeal, but that was prohibited by the regulations without the Attorney-General’s permission. The Attorney-General also received yesterday a number of telegrams urging that’bail be allowed accused. Mr. L. Locke, local secretary of the Communist Party, stated today that Ostler had written to the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) asking for a Royal Commission to inquire into the allegations he made in the Court of an offer from the Solicitor-General, Mr. 11. 11. Cornish, and to inquire into the procedure followed by the police in securing evidence for the trial.