§ 65. Mr. RHYS DAVIESasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether he is aware that Dr. Matchek, the leader of the 3,000,000 Croats within the Yugo-Slavian State, has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for demanding from the Belgrade Government that the terms of the treaty which set up this State should be implemented; and whether, as His Majesty's Government was a party to this treaty, he will intervene on behalf of the Croats by representations to the League of Nations in order that the provisions of that treaty may be carried into effect?
§ The PRIME MINISTERMy right hon. Friend has read in the Press that Dr. Matchek has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment on a charge of conducting propaganda calculated to lead to a severance of part of Yugoslavia from the State as a whole. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.
§ Mr. DAVIESDoes the right hon. Gentleman say that, in spite of the fact that the British Government were a party to this treaty, we have nothing at all to do with the violation of the treaty by the Belgrade Government; and, if not, is there any possibility, through the League of Nations, of seeing that these treaties are implemented?
§ The PRIME MINISTERThose two supplementary questions were answered on 20th October by the Under-Secretary 1016 of State, when he said that the Croats were not a minority under the terms of the treaty.