I rise to call the attention of the House to the death sentence passed in Athens on 10 trade unionists, to point out that the House and the Government are morally and politically responsible for this travesty of justice which has taken place, and further to point out that it is up to them to save the lives of these men.

I am sorry that there is not present a representative of the Foreign Office. I gave notice at two o'clock this afternoon that I wished to raise the subject and it appeared probable that an opportunity would arise for this Debate. Since this is a matter of life and death, I make no excuse whatever for raising the subject, whatever the traditions of this House may be. I deemed it my duty to bring this matter to the attention of the Government and the House and, through this House, to the public at large. These trade unionists have been sentenced by courts martial which were set up in June, 1946, under special security decrees. Let it be noted that those decrees came into operation before there was any suspicion whatever of a guerrilla movement, so-called, in Greece. Further, let it be noted that these security measures were precisely the Metaxas Fascist pre-war security measures, if anything made more severe in the eyes of the democratic and ordinary people of Greece.

The crime which these leading trade union democrats of Greece are supposed to have committed is alleged subversive activities. Since the judge described the French anti-Communist leader, Mr. Leon Jouhaux, as a Communist in the guise of a trade unionist, we know full well what so-called subversive activity means on the lips of a Fascist judge. Let it be known—and I speak from personal experience, having visited Greece, and being a practising lawyer—that whenever a political issue is involved in Greek courts today it is impossible for any democrat to obtain justice.

Here is an illustration. In 1946 I was present at the State trial at Patras of a Resistance fighter. Three judges admitted to me and to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Tiffany) that each and every one of them had been functioning as judges throughout the occupation and had received salary from their Nazi overlords. Those are the judges of Greece. The trial in this case was a disgrace to any conception of justice. The dossier was extraordinarily complicated and lengthy. The précis of it occupied 57 pages. Yet such lawyers as were available for the defence were allowed only to study the details for a few hours five days before the trial, and for two hours on following days. We in this country believe that justice should not only be done but appear to be done. In Greece they have a different conception, under the new Fascist regime. The presiding judge was within a few days of the case a prosecutor at the trial of a former editor of a Communist newspaper. It needs little imagination to realise what sort of partiality one can expect of a prosecuting counsel of that sort, who suddenly finds himself occupying the judicial seat.

Another indication of the absurdity of this legal process is this. Four days of the trial were occupied by four prosecution witnesses, each of them a stooge of the Fascist Government, whereas the defence witnesses, of whom there were 20, were given only three hours in which to present their case. I have received information from an authoritative source that one of the witnesses, a woman aged 28, the mother of three children, collapsed in court on 27th October, moaning, "Do not beat me. I know nothing." That is the sort of justice which we are asked to applaud these days. There were other beatings. One defendant was suffering from tuberculosis. He stated that he had suffered three hemorrhages as a result of the beatings he had had.

It is, therefore, interesting to note that this trial has taken place without any of the usual safeguards of justice as we know it, and the convicted men have no right of appeal whatever. Unless something is done over this week-end it is most likely that these brave, democratic heroes and—yes, and comrades of the Labour Movement; let hon. Members on this side of the House remember that—our comrades in the Labour Movement will be butchered by judicial process. Hon. Members who have so much regard to the Manius and Petkovs and who talk about judicial murder every time a Fascist meets his well deserved fate, allow these honourable, democratic men to go to their death without raising any objection—except those few hon. Members who are here now who are straightforward and honourable enough to come to these men's defence.

I know what the objections of the Government will be—such objections as, "We cannot interfere with Greek justice." What hypocrisy. What utter nonsense. What a fatuous statement to make to anyone who knows that Greece has been an occupied country for year, occupied since the so-called liberation, first by us, and now jointly by us and America. If we cannot interfere at this stage, goodness knows why we are spending so much money on British troops and military missions and the like in Greece. Then, It will be said, probably, "This is a trial." I have told the House what sort of trial it is. That is the sort of answer we should have expected of the Nazis in 1939 when we pointed out that Germans were butchering Communists and Jews. The Nazi reply would have been, "Ah, it is according to such and such a law of the Nazi regime." So be it, that is the Fascist law; and we do not deserve that sort of answer from a Labour Foreign Secretary.

I will conclude because I hope that some other hon. Members will say a word on this subject. The blood of these men will not be on the executioners in Greece but on those responsible in this country for having put into power the Greek Government. It is within our hands to save these brave Greeks. Let us make representation to the Greek Government. I am confident that such representation would be valuable, and that these great Greek democrats could be saved to continue the work and progress of Socialism in the future.