Arab Innocence Sworn by Rice in Murder Trial

Harry Patrick Rice, Deputy Inspector General of Police and Prisons in Palestine, today concluded his testimony before the court which is hearing the case of three young Zionist Revisionists charged with the murder of Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, Jewish labor leader, on June 16 of last year. The afternoon session today was devoted to a reading of notes made by Aba Achimeir, one of the accused.

Rice declared that plaster casts made of the footprints of Abdul Medjid and Yissa Darvish, two Arabs who served prison terms in jail where the Revisionists were held, did not in any way resemble the footprints of the murderers.

Admitting that he might have called more witnesses to testify with regard to the statements which Abdul Medjid made to Sima Arlosoroff, wife of the murdered man, Rice said that he did not believe it important to call such other witnesses. He had sufficient grounds for believing that Medjid was not guilty of the murder of Dr. Arlosoroff, Rice said, and had no intention of pressing Medjid to withdraw his confession.

When asked by Horace Samuel, attorney for the defense of Stavsky, Rosenblatt and Achimeir, whether he had not sent Rivka Feigin, who is supposed to have told the police where Rosenblatt was, to Rosenblatt in order to obtain a confession from him, Rice replied that "it is possible this was one of the reasons." Rice added that Rivka Feigin had told him that Rosenblatt had confessed several things to her.

Other witnesses heard during the morning were Ziporah Halperin, a nurse from the Hadassah hospital. (Halperin was the first to attend Arlosoroff when he was brought to the hospital after the shooting at the seashore at Tel Aviv), and a handwriting expert named Aldema. Zvi Rosen, an official Criminal Investigating Department interpreter, was also called to the stand.

Aldema declared that all of ‘Achimeir’s manuscripts and notes had been written by one hand and read some of them to the court. Rosen produced technical evidence concerning articles which he had translated from Achimeir’s newspaper, Hazit Haam, for the Criminal Department. Among the notes read to the court by Rosen were "Megilath Hasikrikin," in which the theory that murder for national interests is no crime although murder for personal interests is a crime is developed.

The reading of the "Hasikrikin" lasted for two hours, and was begun only after attorney Samuel’s request that nothing be read was opposed by Musa el Aiami, Arab government prosecutor. The court decided that only what Achimeir had written with his own hand should be read. Rosen also read from Achimeir’s "Fundamentals of Zionists Revolutionaries," and a letter addressed to his young daughter in which he said:

"A physical end must be put to the Histadruth. I am against the Keren Kayemeth and would be glad to see a million Jews slaughtered in Poland in order that they become convinced that just because they walk unmolested in the streets they are forgetting that they are in a ghetto. All protests are valueless. They are all a bluff."

MEDJID RECALLED

The court granted Samuel’s plea to recall Hamid Medjid, brother of Abdul, for further testimony on the grounds of new information obtained by Samuel last nigh regarding a telephone conversation between Hamid and another prisoner.