DRAMATIC CONFESSION MADE AT RED TRIAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19238, 27 November 1930, Page 1

DRAMATIC CONFESSION MADE AT RED TRIAL.

Ramzin Declares Lawrence Of Arabia Was British Go-Between.

(United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Received November 27, 9.10 a.m.)

MOSCOW, November 26. Six men, standing on trial for their lives as counter-revolutionaries, heard a seventh, Professor Ramzin, make a complete confession of guilt in Moscow to-day. The high-light of the trial was reached when Professor Ramzin declared that Colonel Lawrence—presumably Lawrence of Arabia—was a go-between establishing British agents in Moscow.

Hissing arc lights illuminated the great white pillared Hall of the Trade Unions, sometimes used as a ballroom for the proletariat, in which the trial is taking place. Outside, the glare of blue-white searchlights lit up the tossing scarlet banners of thousands of workers, who trampled the snow into slush as they marched towards the court. Nearly 500,000 workers, by prearrangement, demonstrated against the accused. They had read the morning papers containing Lenin’s slogan printed in sledge-hammer type: “ Dictatorship is a grand word; a cruel, hard and bloody word, expressing a merciless death struggle.” Workers flooded the streets on the way to the trial, carrying banners inscribed : “ Down with the Accomplices of Intervention,” “ We demand a firm attitude from the Proletarian Court,” “ We will reply to Intervention by executing the Five Year Plan in four The accused were Professors Ramzin, Kalirffiikoff, Charnovsky and Fedotov, and Engineers Larichev, Sitnin and Kuprianoff, who were charged with the organisation of destructive activities in preparation for the intervention of foreign States against the Soviet. They were surrounded by all the accessories of a great boxing contest—amplifiers,: cameras and movie operators-vwhile overhead fifty-two gilt chandeliers added redundant radiance to the arclights’ cruel dazzle. Dressed For Sport. The State Prosecutor, M. Krylenko, attired in a shooting-jacket and putties, as if prepared for a day’s) sport, gulped sandwiches in the wings of the stage before hastening to his seat at a red-covered table. Near him were many of the officials who had hunted down the counter-revolutionaries and were taking a “ busman’s holiday," while highly placed functionaries of the O.G.P.U. ran a practised eye over the accused. Fifteen thousand worker ticket-hold-ers, including representatives of the sciences and literature, rose to their feet as the four judges entered, and each prisoner rose and bowed as his name was called. Many members of the Diplomatic Corps occupied a special box, undeterred by a current cartoon showing the whole front row of the prisoner’s dock reserved for M. Poincare and other foreign statesmen. Interminable Indictment. The opening stages were occupied with the reading of the indictment and the alleged confession of Professor Ramzin. But the atmosphere of the' Court passed from tense attention to something approaching apathy as hour - after hour M. Krylenko’s assistant droned on interminably about sabotage and war plots. The Tass News Agency reported that the accused pleaded guilty and consented to confess. Professor’s Evidence. Dramatically winding up a seven hours’ confession from the dock, Professor Ramzin admitted that he realised ® si hi @ ® a ® @ ® is m is ® ® @ @ a s a s;

too late that his activities were distinctly anti-Soviet and would, if successful, have irretrievably injured the Fatherland. He referred to a mysterious Colonel Lawrence, presumably of Arabian fame, as a go-between establishing British agents in Moscow. It was agreed, he said, that intervention must not be later tlfkn 1931, otherwise the Soviet would be impregnably entrenched. There was a sensation when Professor Rabzin declared that he was so convinced of French participation under M. Poincare’s direction that he gave a French agent in Moscow a secret report on the Soviet’s aviation organisation. Professor Ramzin declared that it was impossible for him to defend himself. His guilt was too manifest. But he hoped that his full and frank testimony would help the Soviet to protect itself against its enemies. He described an alleged promise made by French agents to bring about intervention in Russia in 1928. Ilis organisation had received funds from French sources. He declared that a Mr A. A. Simon, connected with the firm of Vickers, had been used to deliver messages relating to the conspiracy. Larichev, one of the accused engineers, followed with a similar confession in greater detail. The case was adjourned. One hundred thousand workers are demonstrating against the accused tonight under military guidance. The trial is likely to occupy a fortnight. Countless resolutions have been sent in demanding the death of the accused. Among the slogans in circulation is one: “We shall throttle the counterrevolutionary snake.” Vickers's Denial. A message from London stated that the Vickers Company say that they know nothing of Simon. TROTSKY ORGANISES FOURTH INTERNATIONAL PLANS TO PUT END TO STALIN S REGIME. (Received November 27, 12 25 p.m.) LONDON, November 26. The Paris. correspondent of the “Daily Express” states that a Fourth International, to be headed by M. Trotsky, for the purpose of securing the downfall of M. Stalin and completely transforming the present policy of the Third International, was constituted at a secret meeting attended by revolutionaries representing more than thirty different countries. Since his expulsion from Russia M. Trotsky has been working with all his tremendous revolutionary energy to build up a world force under his leadership. is®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®