Evening star., 1960-08-18
Powers Wins
Sympathy Of
Europe Press


LONDON. Aug. 18 (AP).-
The courtroom conduct of U-2
pilot Francis Gary Powers on
the first gruelling day of his
Moscow trial won him the SYM
pathy and even admiration Of
many of West Europe's news
papers. They pictured the
young American flyer as a luck
less casualty in the cold war.
Many West European OBJ
servers also felt the early pat
tern of the espionage trial con-
f1rmed their opinion that the
whole thing was a well-Staged
propaganda show. with United
States policy rather than Pow
erS as the target of the Russian
prosecutors.
Most newspapers, including
many with their own corre-
SpondentS attending the trial,
were convinced there had been
no attempt to brainwaSh Pow
erS.
The downed U-2 pilot, said
Britain'S Daily Telegraph today,
was in the unprecedented posi-
ton of a secret agent who had
been acknowledged by his prin-
cipals.
Called Magnificent"
Given this fact, and asSum-
ing he was right in assisting
the court at all, the American
pilot was magnificent" the
conservative newspaper said.
His answers were transpar-
emily honest. He never faltered.
He spoke in a clear voice with
out either impudence or SER
Witty"
In his straightforward, al
most simple way, Powers fought
back at the prosecutor on some
points" reported the London
Daily Mail.
The Daily Express headlined
its front-page report:
The Anguish of Powers"
Pity His Family
Wrote the Express corre-
spondent: "Out of it all I felt
overwhelming pity for the Pow
ers family. One gets the i'm
preston of simple people caught
up in the vortex of a quarrel
between the two greatest pow
ers on earth"
All over Western Europe re-
ports of the trial were carried
under banners in big type
stetching over several columns.
Powers confessed quietly and
with dignity" said the headline
OF a Copenhagen newspaper.
Another Danish paper de-
scribed the trial as "a big
Soveit propaganda show with
a small supernumerary in the
leading role"
Yet another said: The ac-
tors on the Moscow stage are
only symbols Of the East-West
showdown"
Termed Sad Comedy"
II Messaggero. Rome'S big
gest independent morning pa
per, termed the trial a sad
comedy" Its front-page edi-
torial declared:
THE Powers trial Is not a
legal process. 1t is a show. .
In reality the process in
Moscow does not seek to fix the
degree Of responsibility Of the
young Powers. 1t has the sole
intention Of making accusa-
tionS against the United States
State Department and the
Pentagon, even the entire
American Nation and all the
Western world.
This Is the truth. It Is sad
that the life or liberty of al
man is the object of this pain
full comedy.
But it is even sadder that a
great country and a great peo-
pie like the Russians should
make themse elves believing
spectators of the process. One
speaks of brainwashing in ref
erence to the young Powers.
-. But the true brainvashing
is that which the Russians un-
dergo continuously"
Man in Squeeze
Frances independent Par
isien carried its report under
the headline:
Powers does the best he can
before the Soviet judicial ma
chine"
In neutral Sweden the Stock
holms-Tidningen editorialized:
"One can perhaps venture to
hope that even the Russians
will recognize this little man
who got into a squeeze between
the big shots as a compare
lively innocent party and that
his punishment will be in ac-
cordance with this estimate"