§ MR. MONKsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether there is any truth in the Report contained in the "Levant Herald" of March 31, that—
The Cretan Chiefs who have been for some months under trial for their share in the late Cretan insurrection, have at length been con- 1099 demned to fifteen years' imprisonment, with hard labour, and several of them have accordingly been transferred from the Zaptieh to the Arsenal Bagnio to undergo their punishment.And, if so, whether the condemned Chiefs were expressly excepted from the general amnesty proclaimed by the Turkish Government some months ago to the Cretan insurgents?
MR. OTWAYsaid, in reply, that the circumstances of the case were these—Before the insurrection was terminated an amnesty was offered to all the insurgents who laid down their arms; but the prisoners now in the Bagnio were taken with arms in their hands after the expiration of the term allotted. They were sentenced to imprisonment; but he was happy to inform his hon. Friend, who he knew took a great interest in the subject, that the Grand Vizier had informed Mr. Elliott that the liberation of the insurgents was determined on, and that it would take place almost immediately.