Israel Radio accused today the official Soviet news agency Tass of deliberately feeding it false information on the trial in Leningrad. According to a spokesman for the government owned station, a phone call was put through to Tass in Moscow at noon today to try to elicit fresh information on the trial which is being conducted in secret. A Tass editor allegedly told the Israeli news editor, “The trial is over. We have published this through all our channels. But we do not yet know what the verdicts and sentences are.” This report was broadcast by Israel Radio. When no confirmation appeared from other sources, the radio staff checked with Western news agencies and discovered that the Tass information was false. Western correspondents in Russia reported that they have been unable to telephone Leningrad and have been barred from the court. Israelis believe Tass gave the Israeli radio false information in order to calm “the rising tide of public wrath and indignation” against the trial.
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