ANARCHIST KING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1068, 11 July 1912, Page 4

ANARCHIST KING.

THE MALATESTA CASE,

Count Eurico Malatesta, a picturesque figure with long hair and a thick greyish-black beard, was sentenced at the Old Bailey last month to three months’ imprisonment for criminal libel. Many Anarchists, one of them a Russian prince, were among the witnesses for the deience.

Malatesta, who is aged 59, and described as a publisher and bookseller, of High Street, Islington, pleaded nut guilty to publishing a libel concerning Ennio Bellili, an agent and bookseller. A plea of justification was made. Mi Hiude, prosecuting, said the accused was an Italian of European notoriety. The prosecutor was also an Italian, and in his country, which he left ten years ago, he was a professor of Italian history and an author of some repute. He now made a living by selling books, and acting as literary agent for publishing firms in Italy, staying in humble circumstances at Newport buildings, Soho. He had been very friendly with the prisoner, but when the Italian and Turkish War broke out their friendship was broken off. In April the prosecutor was amazed to find that a libellous circular was being distributed extensively among Italians in Soho, and prisoner had admitted that he was responsible for it. It stated that Malatesta had reason to believe that the prosecutor had insinuated that he (the accused) was a Turkish spy, because of his propaganda against the war. This was described as a foolish slander.

Cross-examined by Mr St. J. MacDonald, for the defence, prosecutor denied that he was an anarchist. He had prolessed to be one, but had given it up eight to fifteen years ago. He was not an Italian police spy. He did not know that one of the tenets ot anarchism was that there should be no war between nations. He denied that he had stated that the accused was a Turkish spy.

Prosecutor said the “Houndsditch affair” was one of the reasons why he became unfriendly with the prisoner. The police called at his house aud asked if he knew the prisoner aud others implicated in the Houndsditch murders.

In the witness box the accused said he was an auarchist.

Mr MacDonald ; Do you believe in the vulgar idea of bomb-throw-ing as being part of the business of an anarchist ? —No. People who think that do not know what an auarchist is. We believe in liberty aud justice for everybody.

Prisoner said he had been In England several times as a political refugee. There were about 100 anarchists in the Italian colony. Six tradesmen, who described themselves as anarchists, gave evidence for the defence. One witness stated that the prosecutor