20 Crew Members of Ben Heoht and Three Journalists Ordered Held Pending Inquiry

Twenty crew members of the immigrant ship Ben Hecht and three journalists who travelled aboard the vessel from Europe were arraigned today on charges of aiding and abetting illegal immigration into Palestine. All but a French newspaperman and two Norwegian engineers are American citizens.

Fearing an attempt by the Irgun Zval Leumi to free the 23 prisoners, a magistrate went to Haifa Central Prison and held court there. He ordered the defendants held for two weeks until an official inquiry is completed.

The newspapermen are Wallace Litwin, a photographer representing the North American Newspaper Alliance, Albert Hirschkoff, a free-lance correspondent and Jacque Meir of the Paris Presse. Another non-DP among the passengers was Henrietta Golden-berg, a French girl whose fiance is in Tel Aviv.

(The Hebrew Committee of National Liberation, which sponsored the Ben Hecht’s voyage, announced in New York today that it has engaged a Haifa attorney to represent the crew and to protect the interests of the owners of the vessel, which has been impounded. At a press conference, the Committee explained that the “passports” carried by the 599 passengers are granted only after the applicant signs “a declaration of allegiance to the Hebrew nation,” and all applicants are carefully preened.)

The Ben Hecht passengers arrived today at Famagusta, Cyprus and were taken to winter camps. Observers here pointed out that with the arrival of the 597 refugees, the number confined in Cyprus will exceed by several hundred the 10,000 statutory limitation provided for in the law allowing the immigrants to be sent the ###. The decree was drafted by the Cypriot authorities last August at the request of the Palestine Government.