Premier Moshe Sharett, speaking in the name of the Israel Government, protested last night the use of “medieval” methods of torture to force confessions of guilt from the 13 Egyptian Jews now standing trial in Cairo on charges of espionage and terrorism on behalf of Israel.
Speaking in the Israel Parliament, Mr. Sharett noted that the trial before Egypt’s highest military tribunal had caused a “storm of indignation” in Israel and among the Jews of the world and “must arouse the concern and anxiety of all who seek justice and peace.” He cited the statement in court by Victorine Nino, one of the defendants, to the effect that she had been tortured during the preliminary investigations and forced to admit crimes of which she was not guilty.
“The Israel Government rejects emphatically the fantastic libels included in the charge sheet which accuse the Israel authorities of the commission of outrages and infernal plots against the security and international relations of Egypt,” the Premier stated.
In a reference to the “Jews falsely charged with such heinous crimes,” Mr. Sharett called them “victims of an implacable hostility against Israel and the Jewish people.” If their “crime is Zionism and a devotion toward Israel, this is a crime of which a multitude of Jews all over the world are guilty,” he continued.
“We do not believe that the Egyptian authorities should have any interest whatever in taking Jewish blood upon their hands. We call upon all who uphold peace and stability in human relations between peoples to prevent this dangerous miscarriage of justice,” he concluded.
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