The Czechoslovak authorities deliberately framed Moshe Shatz, Israel legation secretary in Prague, and expelled him from Czechoslo vakia eleven days ago on charges of espionage to intimidate Israeli diplomatic personnel and frighten them away from contact with Czech Jews, the Israel Roreign Ministry charged today.
In a full statement detailing the background of the case, the Foreign Ministry said that on March 27 Czechoslovak police surrounded a house in Prague where Mr. Shatz was visiting a friend, They entered, arrested and handcuffed Mr. Shatz, and then proceeded to empty his pockets.
To his personal possessions they added a pistol and a package of American cigarettes and then photographed their prisoner and his “possessions, ” identifying him as a spy for the United States. They demanded that Mr. Shatz sign a confession, but he refused.
All this proves that the police acted according to a premeditated plan to stage the circumstances enabling the Czech authorities to ‘justify’ the baseless allegation that Shatz was engaged in espionage for the Americans, ” the Foreign Ministry statement declared.
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