PLOTS IN RUSSIA.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19459, 26 December 1934, Page 7

PLOTS IN RUSSIA.

KILLING OF KIROV. ZINOVIEFF IMPLICATED. BANISHMENT ORDERED. United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright. MOSCOW, Deo. 24. Although th 6 fact is not admitted officially, Zinovieff was arrested with 13 members of his former opposition party and handed over to the Supreme Court. This action followed the trial of Nilcolayeff for the muider of M. Kirov. m , _ A prominent Soviet , official, Syrokoff, is reported to have been arrested with Zinovieff and Kameneff. An official statement declares that it has been established that Nilcolayeff received his commission to murder M. Kirov from a terrorist underground group called the Leningrad Centre Group. The Government asserts that letters from Zinovieff were found in the pocket of Medvedieff, head of the Leningrad branch of the Ogpu, when the latter was found shot. These letters implicate Zinovieff. LONDON, Dec. 24.

The Riga correspondent of the Times says that sentences of banishment in lieu of death have been imposed on Zinovieff, Kameneff and five of their associates, because of their membership of Lenin’s pre-revolution-ary band and their long record of revolutionary w'ork during the Tsarist regime in which ail suffered imprisonment. It is a mistake to suggest that Stalin’s regime is jeopardised, or even challenged, says the correspondent. The correspondent of the Sunday Express says the idea behind the Leningrad plot was the overthrow of the Stalin administration and the return of Trotsky. It is officially stated in Moscow' that Zinovieff, Kameneff, Sharoff, Kuklin and 11 others have been arrested in connection with the murder of Kirov. There is insufficient evidence to justify the trial of Zinovieff, Kameneff and live others, but they will be handed over to a special tribunal, which will oonslder "administrative exile.”

The cases of the remainder, including Sharoff and Kuklin are being investigated. The inquiry has been transferred to a special tribunal under the Commissariat of Home Affairs.