RUSSIAN’S CHARGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21979, 25 March 1946, Page 3

RUSSIAN’S CHARGE

OGPU IN CANADA

WAR ALLEGED AIMS

CANADIAN M.P. IN COUR'I

LONDON. March 23,

The preliminary hearings began against Fred Rose, a Labour Progressive M l’., who is charged with the violation of .the Official Secrets Act. Rose was charged that, unlawfully, lor purposes prejudicial to the safety and interest of Canada, he obtained and communicated to other persons .-ketches, plans, models, articles, notes, documents and information relating to munitions which were calculated and intended to be useful to a foreign Power, namely. U.S.S.R. He was also accused of having communicated data which had been entrusted to him owing to his position holding office under the Crown. Furthermore lie was charged with having conspired with Boyer and others to commit the foregoing offences, all of which were contrary to the Official Secrets Act.

The judge ordered no one to leave the courtroom during the proceedings. Igor Gozenko. a former cipher clerk in the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, testified that some members of the Soviet security police are operating in Canada, some of whom are in the Russian Embassy.

Gozenko said he was born near Moscow and learned cipher work at the Intelligence Academy. He later took up special secret coding, but prior to that the Ogpu investigated his qualifications for five months.

Gozenko explainer! that it was essential that a candidate for this training be a member of the Communist Party. The Ogpu was now known as “N.K.V.D.,” or the Soviet Intelligence Department. These security police were now operating in Canada and their activities served as a screen which he believed was in preparation for war. Gozenko said that judging from the documents he had read lie was sure Russia’s professed friendly policy was only a blind to cover the Soviet’s real policy, which had nothing to do with creating friendly relations. He declared that he possessed documents proving that the Communist Party in Canada served ns a base for Russian operations. The Russian people had no knowledge of life in Canada as they had no means of finding out because there was no free press and no exchange of free opinions.

His voice rising. Gozenko exclaimed: “In Russia you are not master of your own life. You are subject to regulations, but in Canada people can say what they think and even criticise the Government, whereas if that were done in Russia the critics would be shot.” Gozenko testified that Rose and Sam Carr, the national organiser of the Labour Progressive Party, were recruiting agents in the Soviet organisation of agents in Canada.