SECRET TRIAL BY U.S.A. ARMY COURT IN GERMANY

Grey River Argus, 19 February 1949, Page 5

SECRET TRIAL BY U.S.A. ARMY COURT IN GERMANY

First of Twenty Accused Sentenced as Czech Spy BERLIN, Feb. 17. Frontisek Klecka, a 31-year-old waiter on the Orient express, was sentenced to 20 years’ hard laoour, after a trial held in strict secrecy by a United States Military Court m Munich to-day. He is the first of about 20 persons to be tried on charges of spying on the United States forces in Europe for Czechoslovakia. . The court refused to reveal his nationality. The names and nationality of the other defendants have not been announced. . Following the announcement this week by Brigadier-General John McKee, chairman of the Military Commission which is conducting the trials, that the cases were so secret that the court would not make public the evidence or names of the defendants or the verdicts, in case United States security was violated, the Military Governor, General Clay, ordered an investigation into the necessity for this. . General Clay was anxious to lift the secrecy ban, because it would provide countries hostile to the United States with an excellent propaganda medium, but after an investigation it was decided that publication of the proceedings would result in “information detrimental to the security of the Allies’ forces” being made public. However, the commission has been ordered to reveal the names of the defendants and to announce the verdicts when the trial is finished. The evidence, however, will continue to be heard in secrecy. It is officially announced that Klecka was charged under a Military Government ordinance with “acts prejudical to the occupation forces”—which, it was said, “could embrace espionage.” The specific offences he was alleged to have committed were not revealed. The second of the cases against alleged members of the spy ring will open on Monday with two Poles and a German as defendants. The third trial will be against the only woman in the case, Elfriede Zierlik. Charges have not yet been preferred against the 15 other defendants.