HC Deb 11 July 1917 vol 95 cc1881-2
7. Commander WEDGWOOD

asked the Secretary of State for India how many of the 3,000 Indians imprisoned, as related by Lord Hardinge, have been brought to trial; how many have been found guilty; and how many are still in prison?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

I understand that Lord Hardinge spoke of arrests of returned emigrants and not of imprisonments. One hundred and sixty-five of these persons were placed on trial before special tribunals and 136 convicted. Others were tried before the ordinary Courts, but of these I have no particulars. In the majority of cases action was confined to orders restricting the personal movements of individuals for a longer or shorter period. At the end of April last 1,064 persons still remained under restrictive orders, of whom only fifty-one were actually interned, the others being required to reside within specified areas.

Mr. KING

Will the right hon. Gentleman say how many were sentenced or tried by secret courts-martial?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

None of the people to whom I have referred were tried by court-martial.

Mr. KING

Were they tried in secret or in public?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

The trials were held in public.