AMAZING TRIAL

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1922, Page 5

AMAZING TRIAL

BULGARIA IN THE WAR. CABINET HELD TO BLAME. EX-MINISTERS CHARGED. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Aug. 23, 5.5 p.m. Berlin, August 22. Eleven Bulgarian members of the wartime Cabinet, including the Commander-in-Chief, have been imprisoned since the end of 1919, including Radoslavoff (the Premier), who fled to Germany before the armistice. The twelfth Minister died in prison. The trial began last October, when the prisoners have been marched thrice daily, manacled, through the streets of Sofia, guarded by an armed escort. The Court consists of 17 judges, of whom 10 are so-called people’s judges, who are peasants. The charges, which are framed under an amazing special Act, of which the principal penalty is death, are: Firstly, that Qabinet declared war without the consent of Parliament; secondly, they leas'l the State coal-mines to Germany for 99 years; thirdly, they seized enemy property without the consent of Parliament; fourthly, they increased the severity of the military penal code; fifthly, they were guilty of bribery and other corruption; sixthly, they were diplomatically prepared to join Germany without considering the advantages offered by the other side. The Act, which is entitled “A law for the prosecution of the originators of national defeat,” is really an indictment verdict and judgment combined. The penalties include a remarkable decree that all who participate in the diplomatic preparation for war are liable to the same punishments, besides responsibility for the whole cost of the war, which is four hundred millions sterling.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.