WesWorld

In a statement issued today by the Minister for Justice, the Rt.Hon Oscar Hendrik Deuntzer has, after consultation with the head of the Special Investigations Unit of the Police Service, declared the convening of a Judicial Inquiry into appearant breaches in the conditions governing the supply of military equipment to foreign governments.

As he concluded his speech to the Folketing, the Minister apologised to the Indian Ambassador, who was invited to the Folketing for the speech, for the appearent tardiness in the Danish investigations after the Andaman Sea incident, but stated that there may be only 1 opportunity to discover all the information, and it must be done correctly.

In a statement released to the world press today, The Siamese High Court has indited Quartermaster General General Kriangsak Chomanan, on charges relating to the illegal trafficing of weaponry. The charges were also made against 2 other members of the Quartermaster Corps, and lesser charges of Aiding and Abeting were made against several others found to be involved.

The King has instructed the Court to clear it's schedule, and deal with this issue as a matter of the highest priority, and has invited the Indian Ambassador to attend to proceedings.

In his first public statement in some time, the Raj said that India's ambassadors would indeed attend the criminal proceedings in Bangkok as well as the judicial hearings in Copenhagen.

"The Danish and Siamese governments have extended these courtesies to my government, and I have accepted them. Our future relations with Denmark and Siam will be very much influenced by how these proceedings take place, so it is paramount that we be present and keep informed", the Raj commented from Hyderabad.

The emperor also had an unexpected offer for both nations: "I have instructed the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice to provide copies of all evidence, as well as opportunities to question our detainees, to both governments. This information may be helpful if introduced into those proceedings; and we have made it clear to the detainees that it is in their best interests to help the investigation, rather than hinder it."

Rumors are circulating in Hyderabad at this time that the Raj is not satisfied with the performance of his Foreign Affairs Ministry, but the Raj chose not to comment. He did, however, say, "I will be speaking with some of my officials about certain events of the past while. Interpret that as you wish."

In an unexpected turn of events at the opening of his trial, after proclaiming his innocence since his arrest on charges of gun-running, Quartermaster General Kriangsak Chomanan has changed his plea to GUILTY. No explanation has been given for the sudden reversel, however it may have something to do with a dossier that was presented to both Prosecution and Defence councils 2 days ago by the Indian Ambassador in Bangkok.

None of the other accused have changed their pleas as of yet, but with this sudden change in the General's case, anything could happen.

It is believed that the change of plea is being traded against a lesser sentence for information concerning the rest of the arms smuggling ring.

Following the guilty plea made by Quartermaster General Kriangsak Chomanan 3 days ago, it seems that the General has been singing like a canary!

Yesterday evening, members of The King's Children swooped on the towns of Mae Sot and Tak close to the Burmese border, arresting the Chief of Police and other members of Mae Sot's police detatchment, and the Mayor of Tak, as a result of statements made by the General.

And this morning, the Danish Ambassador was summuned to The Royal Palace for an audience with the King and the First Child. When the Ambassador left, it is said that he seemed a little shaken as he sped back to the Danish Embassy.

TELEGRAMMME

DATE :- 20/09/1924

TIME :-
11.45 LOCAL TIME

FROM :-
DANISH AMBASSADOR TO SIAM,
HIS EXCELLENCY, THE RT.HON. CHRISTIAN MAGNUSSEN.

TO :-
HIS MAJESTY, KING CHRISTIAN X

MESSAGE :-
URGENT EXTREME IMPORTANCE-STOP
HAVE BEEN GIVEN NEW EVIDENCE BY SIAMESE-STOP
RAISES GRAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR DOMESTIC POLITICS-STOP
HAVE DESPATCHED INFORMATION WITH NAVAL ATTACHE-STOP
HAVE COMMANDEERED FASTEST AVAILABLE VESSEL-STOP
KING IS TO PLACE "D" NOTICE ON PRESS HERE-STOP
SHOULD MAINTAIN SECRECY FOR HOME INVESTIGATION-STOP

"The Arms Trial" has come to a close after only 8 days in court. The 3 trial judges have adjourned to consider the evidence presented during the trial, and a judgement is expected sometime next week.

Early this morning, the Danish cruiser "Bornholm" entered the outer harbour and dropped anchor. Shortly after she was joined by a patrol boat of the RM which patrolled slowly around her, as if protecting her.

About 1 hour later, a seaplane wearing the markings of Det Danske Luftfartsselskab, the Danish airline, landed in the harbour and taxied toward the "Bornholm". A launch was lowered and made it's way towards the seaplane and transferred one person to it. The seaplane turned away and started it's take-off run when a small high speed boat appeared and opened fire on the seaplane.

The patrol boat returned fire and drove off the attacker, but not before it had managed to hit the seaplane several times.
The seaplane continued it's take-off, appearantly undamaged by the attack.

The small high speed boat was later found burning on the shore near Praia a Mare. When asked to answer some questions about the events in the outer harbour, the local Carabinieri cheif was "not available" for comment.

(With apologies to RA if I messed up any Italian details!)

Moved to keep the story line straight

Germany - 5 October 1924

From the Friedrichshafen Observer-Times:

Earlier this morning, the reason as to why the local customs launches were out on the lake all night became clear, when a seaplane wearing the markings of the Danish airline "DDL" was spotted on the lake. The aircraft was seen to take on fuel from one of the launches shortly after dawn, and took off soon afterwards.

After the launches returned to the harbour at Friedrichshafen, I asked the patrol's commander if he would like to make a statement about the night's events, he just stated that "We had been asked to supply some fuel to a Danish civilian seaplane that had suffered from an engine problem due to contaminated fuel, and simply stayed with it on the lake in case it required any further assistance".

This caused some scratching of heads among the aviation minded members of this paper's staff, due to the fact that DDL, although operating some seaplanes, does not operate any Rohrbach RoII seaplanes, as far as is known to them, and that it is principally a military machine.

[Note: Written by Commodore Green]

Following from the story reported in this morning's edition, the seaplane which made a landing in the Amliehaven in the center of Copenhagen, is reported to have been carrying the Danish Naval Attache to The Kingdom of Siam, Commander Alexander Moltesen.

He was picked up by a vehicle of the Palace Guard, and was driven directly to the Palace. The Commander was seen to have his left arm in a sling and had a bandage around his head, and had an attache case chained to his right wrist.

As little information has reached home shores of the situation in Siam since the Andaman Sea crisis, it would be easy to speculate that the Commander's arrival must have something to do with this, and we can only wait and see what will come of this.

After leaving the Danish Consulate for his morning constitutional at about 8am local time this morning, Christian Anders Zahle, the Minister for Defence, has not returned to the consulate, and a search has been started with the help of the Yugoslav police.

The circumstances surrounding the Minister's disappearence are not completely clear, but it appears that he had arranged a meeting for 11am in the Consulate with some representatives of Yugoslav industry.

The Consul, Mr. Peter Schweppe, was unavailable for comment when this paper tried to contact him about the situation, his secretary would only saw that he was in contact with the Yugoslav Department of The Interior, in relation to the Minister's disappearence.

We will print more information as it becomes available.

In a move today that suprised most observers, Justice Karl Van Der Zee, the judge presiding over the inquiry into foreign arms deals, issued a summons to appear before the inquiry to the Rt. Hon. Christian Anders Zahle, the Minister for Defence, as a result of information delivered to the Inquiry by the Naval Attache to Siam, Commander Alexander Moltesen.

As this is the first time that such a summons has been issued for a member of the Folketing, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.

It is now 3 days since the Minister for Defence, Christian Anders Zahle, went missing from the Danish Consulate in Belgrade. It was the Minister's habit to take a 30 minute walk each morning without regard for the weather.

It would appear that the summons issued by the Inquiry may go unanswered, and this writer cannot help but wonder if the Minister's disappearance is not somehow connected.

To-
His Excellency, Carl Theodor Zahle, Prime Minister of Denmark.

Sir, you are requested to attend an audience in the Royal Palace at 2pm this afternoon.

Christian X,
By the Grace of God, King of Denmark, the Wends and the Goths.

......
Section 8 - Summary

It is the finding of this inquiry that serious errors have been made with relation to the trading of arms to foreign governments. I would recommend that the following findings be acted upon at the earliest possible time.

- The Ministery of Defence is not in posession of the most recent information on the political situation in the purchasing country to make an informed decision as to sales of arms, and as such, should not be involved in negotiations in relation to sales, only purchases

- The Ministery of Foreign Affairs should be the only department to make recommendations about foreign arms sales, and should not be involved in negotiations in relation to purchases.

- All future arms sales be subject to a full and thorough review before the signing of contracts.

It is also the recommendation of of this Inquiry that the possibility of a criminal investigation be conducted into the dealings of the Minister of Defence, Christian Anders Zahle, as there are questions raised durings these proceedings that need to be answered.

I hereby concluded my duties in relation to this matter.

God Save The King.

Karl Van Der Zee, Justice of the Crown

The Folketing was in uproar today after the release of the report of Justice Van Der Zee on Foreign Arms Dealings.

The Speaker of the Folketing had to have the chamber cleared after scuffles broke out between several back bench members of both main parties.

The session tomorrow morning will undoubtedly be one of the most significant in the recent history of Danish politics.