The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-07-23

| cution and conviction, on the basis
of this decree. The fact of the. mat
ter is that this decree is nothing but
huge bluff intended to deceive pub
lie opinion abroad and 1T home also
if possible. The working class press
is practically suppressed and the
bourgeois and social democratic
press is writing about political
amnesty" with the result that hum
dreds of thousands of people have
gained the impression that we have
all been released, and this is exact
ly what the government wants.
The issuing of a political amnesty
is the privilege of the king, but the
release of persons convicted of GRIM
inal offences is the privilege of par
lament. And in fact an amnesty
for criminal offenders will also be
issued in few days. Perhaps, you
may think, these comrades who have
been treated as common criminals
may be released under this amnesty.
Not at all, or this amnesty refers
solely to the civil courts. The mill
tary courts have amnestied only a
few insignificant offences, includ-
ing desertion. But we have all been
sentenced by the military courts.
In any case, even if we were all
regarded as political prisoners, only
few of us would be released, in
Guiding Dobrogheanu- Gherea, myself
and those arrested in connection
with the Cluj affair. There are no
more as fac as I know. Those SEN
fenced in the monster process
against Kahane and his comrades
| (who are alleged to have made a
conspiracy in PRISON. would not come
under the amnesty although their
sentences are not yet final, for the
simple reason that most of them
have been convicted within the last
three years in Galatz. The amnesty
excludes all persons convicted for
other offences within the last three
years.
The situation is now that my two
processes alone are under the MILL
tary authorities. The first is the
process against Stefanov and Dobro-
gheanu. l was sentenced in the same
process in my absence in 1925. The
authorities say nothing about this
process any more. In 1922 the police
made Investigations against me,
against my wife Anna Pauker and
against Elena Filipovici, Dimitriu
Filipescu and Sander Lieblich. We
were arrested at the time but releas-
ed soon after, for the simple reason
that the police were unable to find
anything but perfectly legal mate
rial. Lately the authorities, remem-
bered this and on the 18th of April,
1929, a process was carried out in
the absence of the accused. No one
knew anything about it., and no one
was invited although some of the
accused were abroad with perfectly
legal passes whilst others were liv-
ing perfectly legal in Rumania. /
was the only one who had "disap-
peared." In few minutes we were
all sentenced to hard labor for life
for high treason.
And now with regard to my hunger
strike. / commenced this hunger
strike on the day of my arrest, Bird
of May. On the. 9Th of May / was
taken to Yilava. On the 9Th Of May
the authorities commenced artificial
feeding. Despite my resistance, de-
spite my written protest and despite
the fact that it is illegal, the artifi-
cial feeding is being continued. My
resistance is brutality overcome, my
clothing torn and my body bruised
land scratched. Two or three times
a day / am forced down on a mat
tress and my hands, feet and head
are held by soldiers. The liquid is
then pumped through the nose. This
procedure is painful, and l suffer
very much from bleeding at the nose.
This has gone on now for two weeks
without one single newspaper having
recorded the bare facts, much less
published my protests.
The efforts of the authorities are
useless for the simple reason that
Immediately afterwards, the liquid
is expelled by vomiting. In addition,
on the 9Th of May refused to
drink anything further as a protest
against the forcible feeding. On a
number of occasions the authorities
have pumped salt water into my
mouth in order to aggravate the
pains of thirst. Of course cannot
say everything in this letter, but I
can tell you that the efforts Of the
authorities will not be successful.
reckon upon the active solidarity of
the international proletariat which
must force the government to recog-
nize our offences as political and to
amnesty them.
The regime here in Yilava is worse
than it was under the Liberal gov
! eminent. We are heing held in
- 1900 ~ ~ r. ss.4sf "a
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