If Philip Halsmann, young Latvian Jew recently pardoned in Austria from a four year prison sentence as a result of his conviction for patricide, insists on returning to his own country to seek vindication in the Latvian courts he faces the danger of being sentenced to prison in Latvia because of the peculiarities of the Russian legal code still in effect in Latvia. Dr. Oscar Grusenberg, internationally known Jewish lawyer, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today.
Dr. Grusenberg pointed out that according to the Russian laws Halsmann’s sentence cannot be revised in substance but on the contrary, the Latvian courts, acting on the decision of the Austrian court which tried the case, can only add an additional term of imprisonment to Halsmann’s sentence if it finds that the latter was not severe enough. Halsmann’s return to Latvia also creates the danger that he may lose his Latvian citizenship, Dr. Gruenberg pointed out.
There is a possibility, however, that if additional evidence not submitted at previous trials is presented to the Latvian courts they may squash the sentence. The chances of this happening, however, are slim. In the meantime Halsmann informed the Prague correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he is determined to return to Latvia and seek to clear his name. He plans to come to Latvia after he has completed his tuberculosis cure at Bratislava where he is now staying.
Halsmann was pardoned on the eve of Yom Kippur by the out-going Schober government in Austria. He had been under a four year prison sentence for murdering his father. Young Halsmann always maintained he was innocent and public opinion was convinced that he was the victim of an anti-Semitic plot.
The opinion of Dr. Grusenberg is considered authoritative in view of his connection with several famous trials in the past. Among the notable cases in which he has served as counsel were the Beilis case, the defence of the first Council of Workers Deputies in St. Petersburg in 1906 and a number of other cases in which the rights of Jews were involved. Since the Russian Revolution he has been living abroad.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
