Hans Wesemann, a Nazi agent, pleaded guilty today to the charge of kidnaping Berthold Jakob, German-Jewish refugee journalist, across the Swiss border into Germany more than a year ago. He will be sentenced tomorrow. Maximum penalty for the offense is eight years’ imprisonment.
Wesemann’s confession, read in court, contained a statement that the German Embassy in London was used as a base for the activities of the Gestapo, Nazi Secret State police.
The defendant said in his confession that he was an accredited agent of the Gestapo and had arranged the kidnaping under instructions from his superiors.
Jakob resumed his testimony today.
Troops guarded the courtroom as the trial opened yesterday. The case was reviewed by the prosecutor, who said Wesemann had arrived in Basle in February, 1935, to prepare the abduction of the refugee journalist.
The kidnaping in March, 1935, created an international scandal that finally ended with the Nazis releasing Jakob after seven months’ imprisonment. The Swiss Government deported him after his return to Swiss soil.
Contending that the abduction was a violation of Swiss sovereignty the Swiss Government had demanded the release under the Swiss-German Treaty of Arbitration of 1921, threatening to bring the issue before the World Court at the Hague.
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