Without Mercy

A month ago, Hungary's Premier Janos Kadar returned from Moscow's 40th Anniversary celebration with new orders from his Kremlin bosses: finish off the trials of those who led the 1956 revolt, sentence them heavily, spare no one--priest, worker, soldier or political leader. Last week Kadar was zealously carrying out his orders. Currently in the dock were:

P: Monsignor Egon Turcsanyi, 65-year-old secretary to Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, and 15 priests between the ages of 20 and 28. Turcsanyi, so ill he could not attend some of the sessions, was accused of plotting a fascist "counterrevolution" against the Red regime and stealing documents from the State Office for Church Affairs. According to the regime six of the priests "repented" their "crime": distributing leaflets and a message from Pope Pius XII, which stated "the people of Hungary live in misery."

P: Eighteen Csepel Island steel plant workers, accused of "counterrevolution" and murder. Five of them had escaped to the West and were being tried in absentia. The principal defendant, Karoly Szente, a 51-year-old locksmith, startled the court by repudiating his confession. His 19-year-old son did the same.

Expected to face trial soon:

P: Imre Nagy, the 61-year-old Communist who served as Premier during the nation's five fleeting days of freedom. Kadar himself had fought Stalinists in his Cabinet trying to prevent the trial. He did not want to risk stirring fresh hostility to his despised regime, was also embarrassed because he himself had served in Nagy's revolutionary government. But Boss Khrushchev ruled in favor of a show trial. The charge: treason. Nagy, befuddled and brainwashed after long internment at Sinaia, Rumania, has been transferred to Budapest's Fo Utca prison, is reportedly adjudged ready to "confess."

P: General Pal Maleter, hero of the Kilian Barracks fighting against the Russians and Nagy's Defense Minister until the Soviets tricked him into a meeting, captured and imprisoned him. Although Budapest sources deny the persistent reports that Maleter is being or has been tried, no one doubts that the trial is coming.

At week's end the United Nations Special Committee on Hungary demanded assurances that the Hungarian patriots would be tried "under the highest humanitarian standards." Hungary's Chief Public Prosecutor Geza Szenasi gave Hungary's reply. Said he: "After martial law was repealed, some people expected that there would be a lessening of rigor. These expectations are without real foundation. The slogan, 'Let us make peace among us,' is a siren song. Such lukewarmness favors the enemy. Tolerance and understanding will be shown only to those who were misled by our enemies."

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