Evening star., 1933-03-20
MYSTERY military
PRISONER HELD SPY
British Officer Charged With
"SeIIing Country" as
Trial Opens.

By the Associated Press
LONDON, March 20-A charge that
Lieut.. Norman Baillie- Stewart Of the
British Army had sold his country for
the sake of ESQ" was made today by
Maj. H. Shapcott, the prosecuting off,
Ger, in opening q court-martial against
the young ofilcer. The lieutenant has
been prisoner in the Tower of Lon
don for several weeks.
The general nature Of the charges
revealed that Baillie- Stewart, an officer
Of the SeafOrth Highlanders, aliegedly
planned with q German suspected Of
being . foreign agent to procure and
communicate army secrets which might
be useful to an enemy.
Letter Ii Produced.
Mai shapcott produced letter ad-
dressed to Baillie- Stewart, signed
Marie Louise" and mailed at Berlin.
1t was said to have contained ten f5
notes The prosecutor said he would
mince no words and declared the ac-
cused had sold his country for that
amount.
The main charge Is that between Au-
gust and November II. 1892. Baillie-
Stewart communicated to Otto Waldo
mar Obst OF Berlin Information which
might be useful to an enemy" Obst Is
the man suspected Of being q foreign
agent within the meaning of the ON
cial secrets act
The charge specifies that the accused
in association with Obst. made a note
Of the following matters: % Organ
ization, tanks, armored cars, equip
ment. arming, structure: (2) Automatic
rifle. pattern. extent: 90 Organization
Of brigade tanks; being an act prepara-
tory to obtaining for q purpose preju-
dicial to the interests Of the state in
formation which might be useful to the
enemy"
Prisoner Salutes.
Lieut. Baillie- Stewart, son of . Brit
ish Army Lieutenant colonel. looked
pale and drawn as he appeared for
trial in Chelsea. Upon entering the
court he clicked his heels smartly, how
ever. saluted the President and then
stepped across the width Of the hall
and stood facing the court as the for
malities OF the opening proceeded.
The 24-year-old officer of the Sea-
forth Highlanders was wearing his kilt
and glengarry bonnet, but was minus
his Sam Browne belt.
There are 10 charges altogether
against him and he pleaded not guilty
to each.
Trial Interrupted.
The trial opened with an unpro-
grammed incident. A man in clergy
mans attire rose from the audience
just after the members of the court
were sworn in and holding dramatically
a Bible over his head. cried Il protest
in the name Of Jehovah against this
young ofdcer being committed to the
tower"
He was quickly escorted outside.
1t was In an effort to back the
charges by circumstantial evidence that
the prosecution produced the Marie
Louise" letter and some others which
had come into the possession OF the
authorities after they had placed q
watch on the lieutenant
A second letter from Marie Louise"
contained four fl0 notes. said MAJ.
Shapcott. and another. signed AL
phonse Poiret," was mailed from Alder
shot to Obst In Berlin last November
Identities Writer as Oficer.
"You will want to know who Alphonse
POiret is" Maj. Shapcott said, Il shall
tell you. 1t is this accused oficer
This letter is in his handwriting"
The letter requested that Obst use
smaller seals on his communications to
England, because these large ones are
apt to arouse the curiosity of unscrupu-
lous people"
Maj. Shapcott said that last January,
when Baillie-Stewart was questioned,
he admitted he had received ego In
English bank notes from Berlin. but
said the money had been sent to him
by a woman in consequence of love
affair"
At that time. said the major, the
accused ofhcer said he knew the woman
only IS Marie Louise" that she was
% and fair and that he had made
love to her once beside q lake"