§ Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent trial and sentence by the Soviet authorities of Mr. V. V. Barnes at Archangel; and what further action he is contemplating.
§ Mr. Ernest DaviesAccording to reports appearing in the Soviet Press Mr. Barnes, the Mate of the British ship "Tintern Abbey," was brought before a People's Court in Archangel last month and sentenced to serve three months' imprisonment for "hooliganism." The charge appears to have been based on the allegation of a Soviet dock worker that Mr. Barnes struck him with a length of wood while the "Tintern Abbey" was176W loading timber. The Soviet authorities have been asked to furnish a copy of the record of the Court proceedings and to allow a member of the Embassy staff to visit Mr. Barnes.