HC Deb 20 January 1942 vol 377 c256W
Dr. Morgan

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the case of Mr. Hiram Sebel, an alien now detained in confinement by the Polish Government authorities in London, having been wrongly arrested without notice or warrant many months ago and about whom no information can be elicited; that the Polish Consul-General in Paris on the outbreak of the war indicated that this man was not regarded as of Polish nationality; that proof of this was on this man when he was arrested; and whether he will make representations to the Polish authorities for this man's immediate release, pending a tribunal's investigation, according to standards of British justice?

Captain Margesson

I understand that, whether Hiam Sebel is or is not a Polish subject, he is a member of the Polish military forces. If so, he could properly be claimed by the Polish military authorities as an absentee without leave and he is now undergoing a period of imprisonment as a result of a sentence passed by a Polish field general court-martial. If it is alleged that his arrest by the Polish military authorities or him imprisonment are illegal it is open to him to pursue his remedy before the courts of this country. The Polish authorities hive throughout supplied any information relating to the case required of them by the War Office as fully and at as early a date as possible. I can see no grounds for taking any action in this case.