from Geoff Coggan
The following letter was recently sent to the Editor of the New York Herald Tribune:
"Your article concerning the War Crimes Tribunal (5 October) contains several factual errors: 1. The French Government has made no overture of any kind indicating any disapproval whatever concerning the choice of Paris as the venue for the public sessions of the international War Crimes Tribunal next March. On the contrary, Lord Russell received a letter very recently from the French Presidential office expressing appreciation for Lord Russell's remarks on the President's speech in Phnom Penh. The American Press continues to speculate about official French disapproval, despite the fact that the French Government is on record for refusing to ban the Tribunal, stating that it could only act if there were violation of French law. It is misleading to interpret these words as hostile to the Tribunal. 2. So tar from the report attributed to Vladimar Dedijer that the Tribunal would be held in Sweden going undenied, Dedijer himself _ issued a denial that these words were his or that this was true, — which was published widely and distributed by Tanjug, the Yugoslav Press Agency. 5. The constituting sessions of the Tribunal wore always planned for a place other than the formal hearings involving witnesses, and these sessions will take place in London in the very near future. It is a pity that there should be such confusion about the Tribunal's plans, but we must disclaim resvonsibility for inaccurate and speculative stories published in the American Press before checking with us, and then picked up by the European Press with equal lack of confirmation. I very much hope the welcome interest of the Press in the War Crimes Tribunal will express itself more judiciously, so that the public may be correctly informed."