200 Greeks Executed

Northern Advocate, 7 May 1948, Page 7

200 Greeks Executed

ATHENS, Thu. (1. p.m.).—Fortyfour more guerillas were executed today, bringing the week’s total to well over 200," say Athens Press reports. The executions were 13 in Athens, 19 who were sentenced in 1944 on Aegina Island, H in Salonika and one in Lamia for alleged conspiracy to aid Communists.

The Acting Minister of Justice (M. jßendis) said that of 2961. Greeks sentenced to death during December, the 1944 rebellion and before, 157 had been executed by May 1, 1948. Since then 24 had been executed in Athens and 19 on Aegina Island. M. Eendis revealed that at least 300 Greek Left-Wingers are liable to excution at any time, and the fate of another 2461 is still undecided. BRITAIN SHOCKED

The British Ambassador (Sir Clifford Norton) sent a letter to the Foreign Minister (M. Tsaldaris) asking for information about the execution of Communists. The execution 0 f 152 Communists in Greece had been a great shock to all. said the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Mr Mayhew) in the House of Commons.

He said the British Ambassador had been instructed to tell the Greek Government so in the strongest terms. POLICY, NOT JUSTICE

“These mass shootings after long imprisonment strongly suggest policy rather than justice,” says The Times in a leading article condemning the Greek executions. The Times admits that conciliation with the Communist leaders is almost certainly impossible, but it points out that many of their followers could have been won over to a fair regime. The present measures can strengthen only the extremists—on both sides.