RUSSIAN ARRESTS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 219, 12 April 1933, Page 5

RUSSIAN ARRESTS

NEW WHITE PAPER ISSUED Soviet Secret Police EXPOSURE OF METHODS Prisoners Worn Out Press Association —Copyright London, April 11.—Another 20page White Paper is issued of the dispatches of Sir E. Ovey (Ambassador) and Mr. W. Strang (Counsellor) from the Moscow Embassy to Sir John Simon (Foreign Secretary) from March 19 to April 7. There is a revelation of O.G.P.U. methods of justice under which various accused men were examined separately daily, sometimes for 20 hours, told of alleged

confessions of their friends and threatened with dire consequences

if they did not similarly confess.

The White Paper is important in indicating the charges on which the Prosecutor is likely to rely in Wednesday’s trial. Thus Alan Monkhouse was shown a 'Signed statement in W. M. Thornton’s hand-writing admitting a long list of small presents and monetary payments made over a decade. The items were trifling, being for clothes and other things given Russian engineers. The technician’s gifts are now being used to bolster the charges of inciting sabotage and espionage. Monkhouse’s impression is that the alleged sabotage occurrences were at Zlatovsk, A feature of the accusation against Charles Nordwall is that he was spending money for wrecking purposes. He was confronted by Labanoff, a Russian engineer, who was obviously brought from pi'ison and who in Nordwall s presence confessed he received sums of 2000 and 3000 roubles (about £250 and £375) for wrecking activities and admitted he was actually engaged in wrecking. Nordwall replied that Labanoff’s statement was fantastic. Labanoff added that he was instructed not to wreck Metropolitan Vickers plant but to devote his attention to other companies’ plants in the Ivanova district. Nordwall denied this.

Ambassador’s Allegations “As an example of O.G.P.U. methods,” Sir Esmond quotes the story of a Russian woman who was instructed to persuade Monkhouse to undertake secret work. The woman refused. As another example Sir Esmond alleged that John Cushny in October last was approached and asked to undertake secret work unknown to his firm in connection with the supply of electrical plant for Soviet power stations. He was offered 250 dollars a month and refused. Thornton, who was born in Russia and is generous by nature, possibly may have been indiscreet in helping Russians. Mr. Strang describes Thornton as worn out. He had been interrogated daily since his arrest, on one occasion for 20 hours without a break. He was confronted by W. H. MacDonald, a fellow prisoner, who accused Thornton of engaging in military and economic spying. Thornton says when his amazement began to embarrass MacDonald the examiners made Thornton sit with his back to MacDonald, who “looked awful.” Gustav, a friend of MacDonald, made similar statements when confronted by Thornton, saying the latter had been paid £1250 for espionage purposes. Until Thornton was released the Ambassador, Mr. Strang and Monkhouse believed he had written extraordinary lengthy statements covering practically every activity of Vickers during the decade. They presumed severe gruelling reduced Thornton to mental apathy. Mr. Strang even suggested to Sir John Simon that Thornton had broken down and made a false confession under “wellknown forms of O.G.P.U. pressure,” particularly a threat to expose his alleged relations with Madame Kutosova, who is a secretary of the company. : y,j >t:' Different Story Mr. Strang’s last cable after he had seen Thornton, however, reveals a different state of affairs. For two days Thornton’s examiners are alleged to have tried to make him admit he received money from the British Consulate and was a member of the intelligence service. He was then told Madame Kutosova had testified to this effect. She confronted him, evidently in a pitiable State of terror, and reeled off accusations against Thornton in a manner suggesting she was acting under compulsion, having been broken by the usual threats regarding relatives.

According to the White Paper Monkhouse believes that it will be suggested that Mr. G. T. Richards, now in England, who is a director of Metropolitan Vickers Limited and in general charge of the Russian business, was working in conjunction with an international group to hinder industrial development in Russia. The Public Prosecutor, M. Vishinsky, on several occasions suggested that Mr. Richards was in the British secret service.

' Mr. Richards has issued a denial of the allegations. "The White Paper implication that I or any of my colleagues of the Metropolitan Vickers Company are working against the interests of the Soviet, either by sabotage or any other means, is not less fantastic than the suggestion that I am in the British secret service,” he said. “I deny both completely.” "Amazing” is the most used adjective in connection with the White Paper, which the Daily Express says shows “the tangle of lies and third degree methods in which the Soviet authorities sought to enmesh the arrested British engineers.” Even the small section of the Press which has been critical of the Government’s handling of the affair is obviously impressed with the latest disclosures. The White Paper Is the chief news and carries the biggest headlines in all the newspapers, but there is little editorial comment, owing to the lateness of the hour of issue. The News-Chron-icle says: “If there is any substance in the charges it is now almost impossible to discover it through the cloud of irrelevant and incredible suspicions. The prisoners appear to have been so broken by the inquisition that it is no longer possible to say what is the real worth of their testimony.”