“THIRD DEGREE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 896, 13 February 1930, Page 15

“THIRD DEGREE”

PARIS POLICE ACCUSED Public opinion has been seriously disturbed by the charges of brutality which have been levelled against the French police by the Russo-Armenian tailor, Almazoff, who was at one time thought to have been concerned In the murder of one of his friends, says the Paris correspondent of the London “Daily Kxpress.” Almazoff informed the judge, who is inquiring into this affair, that he had been subjected to violent forms of the “third degree’’ during his examination in the special rooms, sometimes called the Chamber of Spontaneous Confessions —at the Quai des Orfevres Police Station. "On one occasion,” he said, "I was taken up to a room on the third floor, where I found five inspectors in shirt sleeves awaiting me. I was undressed, had thumb cuffs placed on my hands, and was struck repeatedly on the chest. My feet were also beaten with canes.” Dr. Paul, the official medical expert, had examined Almazoff, and found that bruises on his chest were undoubtedly caused by blows from fists. He also found that the prisoner’s thumbs had been seriously damaged by the thumb cuffs (which are illegal in France).

It is thought, nevertheless, that any inquiry into this affair will be ineffect" tive, as it will be carried out by the police department directly concerned. Rough treatment of prisoners is said to be habitual in Paris and the keeping of presumed culprits undressed for long periods is said to provoke an inferiority complex. More subtle methods of hastening confessions are also in vogue. One of these is to prevent a prisoner from sleeping by giving him a vermin-in-fected bed. Another is to serve the prisoner with over salted dishes, and not to allow him to drink until he confesses his guilt.