On the Record

At the espionage trial of Associated Pressman William Oatis, the bits of evidence the Czechs let out seemed to prove that the charge of "spying" was nothing more than routine diligent news reporting. Last week a transcript of the trial, received by the State Department, proved the point conclusively. In fact, State Department officials were surprised that Reporter Oatis, on the stand after 71 days of Communist imprisonment and interrogation, was able to make his case so clear.

As a sample of the "espionage" charged by the prosecution, State cited some of Oatis' testimony regarding former Czech Minister Vladimir Clementis, whose disappearance last winter (he was secretly arrested) was a Page One news story.

Q. What steps did you take [to find out about Clementis]?

A. ....I went to the American embassy and got...the address of Clementis' apartment. Then I went back to the office and got Svoboda and Wojdinek (two A.P. staffers convicted with Oatis) to go with me.

Q. Why did you take these two with you?

A. Because they could speak Czech.

Q. What did you three do?

A. We were investigating that Clementis was not in his apartment. We learned that he was not there and that security measures had been taken.

Q. What did you do with this information?

A. I sent the news to London.

Q. Did you try to find out where Clementis was interned?

A. Yes.

Q. Your employers...were interested?

A. They were highly interested.

So carefully was the trial set to railroad Oatis, observers reported, that a well-rehearsed court translator once got ahead of the prosecution witness whose words he was interpreting. This week the Czechs spurned the State Department's request for the immediate release of Oatis. But State had still made no move of reprisal against imports from Czechoslovakia, or Czech correspondents and diplomatic officials in the U.S.

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