(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The trial of Landgerichtsrat Koelling and Landgerichtsdirektor HOffmann, who played a prominent part in the so-called German Dreyfus case, involving the Magdeburg Jewish merchant, Rudolf Haas, began today when disciplinary proceedings were brought against them. The trial will last six days.
Koelling an Hoffman are charged with initiating a press campaign against Haas and aiding in the “frame-up” against him, which resulted in his arrest on the charge that he had murdered his Christian bookkeeper, Helling.
Haas was released after spending many months in prison, when Schraeder confessed that he had murdered Helling and that he had been persuaded to throw the charge on Haas.
At the outset of the proceedings Koelling and Hoffmann attempted to reiterate their belief that Haas was an accomplice to the murder. Later, when presented with the evidence, they admitted that this suspicion could not in any way be substantiated and that Haas’s innocence was established beyond doube.
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