The State Department today reported that it has verifed the arrest in Rumania of Marcel Pohne, local correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and Leonared Kirscher, Associated Press correspondent there.
At the same time, the Rumanian Legation here said that the Government of Rumania has no official knowledge of the arrest of a J.T.A. correspondent in Bucharest. A spokesmant for the Legation said that “sometimes actions are misinterpreted.” He explained that it is possible that the correspondent was merely subpoenaed to present testimony at the current trial of five former employees of the British and American information services.
According to the information received by the State Department, Messrs. Pohne and Kirscher were arrested on charges of having provided information to the employees of the information services. The State Department learned that the Bucharest court asked the prosecutor whether or not Pohne had been arrested and that the prosecutor’s answer was in the affirmative.
It is understood that a representative of the U.S. Legation in Bucharest is seeking permission to attend the hearings. Meanwhile, the State Department today delivered a note to the Rumanian Legation here requesting the Rumanian Government to close its office in New York City, which is largely concerned with the collection of prepaid customs duties on packages sent to Rumania.
Reuters reported today from Bucharest that Anny Samueli, one of the defendants at the spy trial, said she had supplied informantion on the activities of the Zionist Federation in Rumania to the British Legation in Bucharest. She claimed that Pohne had been her informant on Jewish affairs.
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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.
