Evening star., 1948-12-17
Court Rule Is Waived
For FIiek's Challenge
OF Military Tribunal

~ Cdc4cI 1O1 Eli uIPOFCI1SlleO NCI~
man industrianst, whose fortune
few years ago totaled more than
$500, ,0oo. 900, to challenge the legality
Of an American military tribunal
IN Germany. =
On the outcome of that challenge
may hinge the fate Of between 2,ooo
and 5000 men and women who have
been convicted Of war crimes In the
American zone OF Germany.
Attorneys for Friedrich Flick, "a,
told the appellate court yesterday
their client, stripped Of his vast
holdings, cannot afford to pay for
any more printed briefs In his ap-
peal from q seven-year jail SEN
tence as q war criminal.
Chief Judge Harold N. Stephens,
whose questions had indicated a
keen interest in the legal status Of
the tribunals established by Gen.
Lucius Clay In Germany, said the
court will waive its rule and permit
Flick to file q typewriter supple
mental brief.
Raised Possibility of Brief.
Judge Stephens himself had sug-.
gested Attorneys Fred Shields Of
Washington and George T. Davis
and Earl Carroll might want to file
q supplemental brief expanding
their attack on the legality Of the
military tribunals.
Flick's attorneys had contended
there is no Constitutional authority
for the establishment of the mill
tary tribunals and that persons
brought before such courts have no
right Of appeal.
"The cause Of justice will be set
back Q Thousand years unless some
court in the United States will ac-
cept jurisdiction over cases such as
this" Mr.. Davis told the court.
The Flick case came before the
appellate. court on an appeal from
q denial of a writ Of habeas corpus
by the District Court here, which
ruled it lacked jurisdiction because
MIR. Flick is outside its territory.
Extent Of Power In Question.
After Assistant United States At
torney John D. Lane said authority
to establish the military tribunals
stems from the Presidents authority
to make treaties and from the war
powers conferred on the President,
Judge Stephens asked:
DO you contend the President can
commit this country to procedures
In eontravention Of our Constitution,
or that he can authorize an officer
70 contrsvene the Constitution"
Mr.. Lane replied that the military
tribunals were established following
agreement among the four victorious
Allied powers in Germany as to how
the defeated country should be gov
erned, pending the writing OF .
peace treaty.
Suppose an American citizen
should find himself before one OF
those tribunals, would he have any
recourse to the courts Of this coun-
try?" Judge Wilbur K. Miller asked.
Mr.. Lane said he supposed an
American citizen could ask the State
Department to have his trial trans
ferred to the United States.
Mr.. Carroll contended, however,
that an American could be hailed
before one Of the tribunals, which,
- said, write their own laws and
define their own penalties. The
American would have no chance of
exercising his constitutional rights,
unless some American court accepted
jurisdiction on q, writ Of habeas
corpus, he maintained.
According to Mr.. Carroll, Flick
was an internationally respected in
dustrialist, with vast iron and steal
holdings. He was president Of Flick
Kanzern, q multi-mililon dollar |
holding company. and chairman of
the board of Vereiche Stahlwerke, |
Q giant steelworks. Directors Of this |
concern included Defense Secretary
ForrestaI and w. Averell Hartman,
Economic Cooperation Administra-
ton special representative in Europe.
Convicted on Three Counts.
Flick was convicted on three
counts a. q war criminal:
!. That he worked Russian war
prisoners in his big railroad freight |