Evening star., 1951-07-21
.0atis Was Convicted
0fDoing His NewsJob
u. ). Officials Assert
Full Record of Trial
Shows Facts Clearly,
State Department Says
By John M. Hiehtower
Associated Press StoH Writer

The full record of the trial and
conviction of Associated Press
Correspondent William N. Oats
in Communist Czechoslovakia has
been received by the State De-
partment from American Ambas-
sador Ellis o. Briggs in Prague.
Department officials said today
that it showed no evidence of
what any government in the
world outside the Iron Curtain
would call espionage. Mr.. Oats,
who was arrested April %, was
sentenced July 4 to 10 years i'm
prisonment on a charge of spying
The Oats case is unique among
trials of foreigners in the Com
munist countries, department ex-
perts said. because the record
shows so clearly that the defend
ant was judged guilty of doing
well the job which he had been
officially admitted to the country
to do.
Queries Called Instructions.
Through the bulky transcript of
the testimony the Communist
prosecutor treats routine news in
quires from Associated Press
Offices in New York and London
as instructions" for espionage.
Mr.. Oats is pictured as the head"
Iof an espionage network. His
news reports. though published for
the world to read, are referred to
as if they were secret dispatches
to hostile government.
Much of the questioning set
forth in the transcript is con-
Icerned with or relates to the arrest
earlier this year of former Czech
Foreign Minister Vladimir Gle
mentis. This was a major news
story of the period. Here are
some of the questions and answers
bearing on that subject:
Prosecutor-Here are original
documents marked L-23. :. They
are concerning instructions re-
garding details about the anti
state activities Of the Clements
group, at that time considered Sc
lcret by our government. Your in
Istruction also concerns not only
Clements but also others who
were concerned with Clements
What steps did you take?
Checked Clements Case.
Mr.. Oatis-First I was to find
out if Clements disappeared.
I went to the American Embassy
and got in touch with the clerk,
Colclough, who gave me the ad-
dress and number of Clements
apartment. Then I went back to
the Office and got Svoboda and
Wojdinek' Czech employees of A.
P.) to go with me.
@. Why did you take these two
with you?
A. Because they could speak
Czech.
@. What did you three do?
A. We were investigating that
Clements was not In his apart
ment. We learned that he was not
there and that security measures
had been taken.
@. What did you do with this
information?
A. I sent the news to London.
@. Did you file this item?
(Showing an exhibit.)
A. Yes, that is part of that item.
@. Did you send more reports
regarding Clements? It is then
possible to say that there were
quite number of them?
A. I sent several such stories.
Yes that's true.
@. Did you try to find out
where Clements was interned?
A. Yes.
Employers Interested"
@. Your employers either in
New York or London were inter-
ested in Clements?
A. They were highly interested.
@. You finally obtained a pho
tograph? (Of place where Clemen-
tbs was held by police).
A. Yes I did.
@. Respective information re-
garding photograph did you send
to London or New York?
A. Before I could do so I was
arrested.
The questions and answers 60 on