Poland Protests Against British Seizure Of Wanted Red In Ship

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22947, 16 May 1949, Page 5

Poland Protests Against British Seizure Of Wanted Red In Ship

(N. 7, P.A.—Renter—Copyright.) (11.30 a.m.) * LONDON, May 15. The Polish Embassy, in a statement issued today, stated it regarded the action of the British authorities in arresting the Communist, Gerhardt Eisler, on board the Polish ship Batory, off Southampton, last night as a violation of the Polish sovereign flag and of the internationally accepted principles of law and order and human rights.

The protest, which referred to the “seizure and forcible abduction” of Eisler, added: “The British police who boarded the ship and guarded it from outside took with them representatives of the United States Government, deprived the captain and his officers and representatives of the Polish Government of freedom of movement, and made it impossible for the captain to carry out the order of the Polish Government to leave British waters without surrendering: Eisler.

authorities by force and violence, acting as • gendarmes for American reaction. The British authorities, for the sake of the Un-American Activities Committee, have brutally violated the old British tradition of asylum for political emigres.” After appealing to the British people. Eisler’s statement added: “I shall continue my fight from a Brtish prison for my right to return home.” The Polish press called the, seizure -of Eisler “international scandal” and'said that his arrest by British police officials violated all the elementary principles of international law. “Within British Jurisdiction”

The British Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Batory was lying within British territorial waters and within British jurisdiction. Therefore, it was within our competence to arrest someone wanted on an extradition charge.

"When the captain of the Batory and the representatives of the Polish Government refused to surrender Eisler on the grounds of a’ warrant issued by the Southampton court, which alleged a breach by Eisler of his American visa regulations and invoked the AngloAmerican treaty of extradition, the British police officers enabled the American representative tt> read a telegram from the State Department containing a threat of seizure of the Batory by the United States if it should return to United States waters, and if Eisler were not surrendered it also threatened other measures which implied the closing of the Gdynia-America Line in the United States.” ‘‘Entitled to Protection”

“The fact that Eisler has been arrested does not prejudice in any way, the question of whether he should be* extradited or not. That will be decided when he appears before a magistrate and when it is seen whether there is sufficient evidence for the AngloAmerican extradition treaty to be invoked.”

The British Council for German Democracy has engaged a London solicitor to represent Eisler. Miss Dorothy Diamond, assistant secretary of the British Council for German Democracy, said it was formed during the war to encourage antifascism in Germany. She added: “We are not interested in Eisler as a Communist but as an anti-Nazi refugee.” The Warsaw radio described the arrest of Eisler as a “brutal kidnapping by Scotland Yard officials.” It said that Eisler was going to Leipzig, where he had been appointed a lecturer at the university.

The statement continued: “The Polish authorities refused to yield to these threats and disregarded the British warrant of arrest on the grounds that Eisler was a political refugee entitled, under international law. to asylum and protection under the Polish sovereign flag.

“As Eisler did not commit any crime under British law and within the jurisdictfon of the English courts, the British police had no right to interfere with him.

“The Polish representatives and the master of the ship, without resorting to force, did everything in order to prevent the abduction of Eisler by the British police, accompanied by the representatives of the American Government.

“Iu spite of this, the British police, taking virtual possession of the ship and with the use of physical force, dragged the passenger from the ship and carried him away. “The Polish Government takes a a serious view of the incident and the Polish Embassy will lodge a .strong protest with the Foreign Office.” A statement from Eisler, issued by the Embassy at his request, declared: “I am being kidnapped by the British