§ MR. WILLIAM REDMONDI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if Commandant Scheepers was a prisoner of war; and, if so, can he explain why was he executed.
§ MR. BRODRICKCommandant Scheepers was executed on conviction of various gross offences against the usages of war, including seven cold-blooded murders of natives and the flogging of a white man. The status of prisoner of war carries no exemption from trial for murder or any such violation of the laws of war.
§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)As this case has excited great interest both in this country and abroad, will the right hon. Gentleman consent to put on the Table of the House a full report of the trial?
§ MR. BRODRICKI do not think that it would be desirable to make any distinction between this trial and others. We have undertaken to lay the records.
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)As capital cases are cases of great gravity, would there be any difficulty in postponing them until some time after the war is over?
§ * MR. DAVID THOMAS (Merthyr Tydfil)May I ask whether Scheepers was not suffering from appendicitis at the time?
§ [No answer was given.]