RUSSIANS BEATEN UP

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22313, 24 April 1947, Page 6

RUSSIANS BEATEN UP

INCIDENT IN BERLIN PROTEST TO BRITISH (Noon.) BERLIN. April 23. The Russian commander in the Berlin area, General Kotikov, has protested to Allied Headquarters against the “rowdyism” of British police who surrounded a Russian lorry which had stalled in the British sector of Berlin. He alleged that they mishandled two Russian sergeants, who were kicked in the face and seriously injured. The protest is published in the Russian sponsored newspaper Tacgliche Rundschau. General Kotikov alleged that “Sergeant Woronoj was beaten half-dead, lost an eye. and sustained a broken rib. His skull shows several fractures. Such rowdiness on the part of the British police is unparalleled and provocative. I demand that the guilty be found and handed over to the court.” A British spokesman said General Kotikov's allegation was “complete nonsense.” and added that German civilians had complained of Russians discharging firearms and threatening to break into their houses. The British military police caught the Russians and a fight followed because the Russians refused to go along. The matter is now being investigated “on a high level.”