Evening star., 1949-03-13
Bulgaria Deliberately
Violates Peace Pact,
British Note Charges
By the Associoted Press


LONDON, Sunday, Mar. 13.-
Britain charged today that Bull
garia has no intention of living
up to her peace treaty guarantees
of political and religious freedom.
The charge was made in a sharp
protest note against the trial Of
Is Protestant church leaders. It
declared the churchmen's con-
fessions that they spied for Brit
ain were completely false" and
added:
Religious freedom in Eastern
Europe is under a deliberate gen.
eral attack"
-Four of the Protestant leaders
were sentenced to life and the
others to l to IS years last week
after they pleaded guilty to es-
pionage and other charges.
Note Delivered Yesterday.
The British note was delivered
yesterday to the Bulgarian Foreign
Ministry in Sofia.
An informed source close to the
Foreign Office said Britain may
take stronger steps" later.
The peace treaties with Bulgaria
and other former Nazi satellite
states provide that disputes over
violation of the pacts shall be
settled by the United Nations if
direct negotiations fail.
Throughout the trial the Bull
garian government has shown it
self clearly more interested in the
dissemination of propaganda than
in the administration of justice"
said the Britishh note made public
here by the Foreign Office In
order to destroy the liberty of
these churchmen it has sought to
represent constitutional opposi-
ton to the government as GRIM
inal, the provision of information
implicit in the armistice agree
ment as reasonable, and normal
social contacts between the pas
tors and members of His Majesty's
legation as espionage.
Deception Held Failure.
1T has further endeavored to
persuade the world that true re-
ligious freedom is compatible with
the exercise of power by Com
munist government.
Neither His Majesty's govern
ment nor the British people are
deceived by these attempts
The note said the trial has con-
vinced Britain that the Bulgarian
government has no intention of
giving effect to its solemn obliga-
tions under the terms Of the
treaty of peace to guarantee the
fundamental freedoms to its peo-
pie"
The note cited the testimony
Of the Rev. Vassil Ziapkov. a
principal defendant who was SEN
fenced to life Imprisonment. as
proof that the confessions were
false.
Mr. Ziapkov was quoted by the
prosecution as saying that he gave
espionage material in 1914 and
1945 to Stanley urt-Andrews, a
vice counsul of the British lega-
ton in Sofia.
Reached Sofia in 1916.
In point of fact" the note
declared, Mr.. Stanley Burt-An-
drews did not reach Sofia until
March 30th, 1916, after which date
his contacts with Pastor Ziapkov
were solely connected with his
duties as British vice-consul and
specifically as the officer con-
cerned on the civil side with the
celebration of marriages.
This clear example of mis-
representation renders suspect the
whole of the testimony in these
so-called confessions and His
Majesty's government therefore
draw their own conclusions as to
how and why such statements
came to be made and to be used
as evidence"
Mr.. Burt-AndreWs now is serv-
ing in the British legation in
Bogota, Colombia.
Mr.. Ziapkov asserted at his trial
that he gave the British diplomat
information about machinery out
put and crop reports.
Under the 1914 arnlistice with
Bulgaria Allied missions were sent
to the country to see that dis
armament and other conditions
were carried out. During the
armistice period prior to the
effectiveness of the peace treaty
In 1947 these missions were en-