§ 6. Mr. John Hyndasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will instruct the British representative on the Austrian Control Commission to make representations in regard to Austrian railwaymen who were sentenced by Russian military courts to long terms of imprisonment arising from railway accidents in respect of which the Austrian authorities have cleared of culpability the men concerned; and to elicit on what specific charges these men were convicted.
§ Mr. MayhewNo, Sir. The British authorities in Austria cannot intervene in the sentences of a military court approved by the Soviet High Commissioner in his own Zone. My hon. Friend will, however, be aware of reports that the Austrian Government, as well as the chairmen of all three political parties in Upper Austria, have appealed to the Soviet authorities against these particular sentences.
§ Mr. HyndAs the Allied control of Austria is quadripartite, cannot my hon. 1436 Friend ascertain from our Russian colleagues what the specific charges are in these cases? As there is no suggestion of any misdemeanour on the part of these railwaymen, will he represent to our Soviet colleagues that it is undesirable that the name of democratic justice should be besmirched by such sentences?
§ Mr. MayhewI will certainly bear in mind what my hon. Friend says, but we have also to consider the actual effect that any representations we make are likely to have.