Prague, 1951, the Show Trial of American Journalist William N. Oatis, a Victim of Menticide, Part One ©

 "Fear, and continual pressure are known to create a menticidal hypnosis. The conscious part of the personality no longer takes part in the automatic confessions. The brainwashee lives in a trance, repeating the record grooved into him by somebody else."

Joost A.M. Meerloo, M.D., The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing (1956)
 

In January 1950, Czechoslovakia expelled all Western correspondents. The Associated Press (AP) news agency was allowed to reopen its Prague bureau, but AP’s Czechoslovak nationals were ordered not to send stories abroad. 

Born in Marion, Indiana on January 4, 1914, William Nathan Oatis went to work for the Marion Leader-Tribune in 1933 and joined the AP in Indianapolis in 1937. 

William Oatis took up his position as AP correspondent and bureau chief in Prague on June 23, 1950. 

Almost from the beginning of his assignment he reported being subjected to harassing tactics by Czechoslovak authorities. During March and April 1951, he reportedly came under close surveillance by the police, and three Czechoslovak nationals on his staff were arrested: Tomas Svoboda, Pavel Wojdinek and Peter Muntz.

Oatis told Tyler Thompson, Counselor at the American Embassy, that he was really getting worried about his own safety. But still he did not leave Czechoslovakia. On the night of April 23, 1951, six officers of the secret police (StB) arrested him in his office and drove him to the headquarter's building.

The American Embassy in Prague was informed on April 25 that Oatis had not been seen either at his office or residence since April 23. The Embassy contacted the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry and a formal note was presented requesting an immediate investigation as to his whereabouts. On the following day, the Foreign Ministry informed the Embassy that 

Oatis was detained for having carried out activities hostile to the Czechoslovak State including use of Czechoslovak employees of the Associated Press office in

• securing and verifying “secret” reports, 
• acquiring and disseminating illegal press material, and 
• utilizing Czechoslovak employees for similar purposes. 

Oatis later described what happened after his arrest:

There a cold-eyed plainclothesman began my interrogation by shouting, 'We could hang you!' The Czechoslovakian legal system being what it was then, I could well believe that, though I had done nothing to warrant such punishment. 

I had done nothing I considered espionage - nothing more than gather news from Czechoslovak media and exchange information with acquaintances of mine. But in prison I was given to believe the country's legal definition of espionage was rather broad.

The U.S. Embassy, immediately thereafter, contacted the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry and

• expressed astonishment at the arrest of Oatis on such charges, 
• reserved rights on his behalf, 
• requested permission for a consular officer to visit him, and 
• asked whether an American lawyer would be permitted to represent him in Czechoslovakia. 

The Foreign Ministry replied by denying the request for consular access on the grounds that according to existing law a visit could not be permitted at that stage of Oatis’ investigation. At the same time the Foreign Ministry stated that any person chosen to represent Oatis would have to be a Czechoslovak lawyer qualified to appear before a Czechoslovak court. 

There were radio and newspaper stories in the United States speculating that Czechoslovakia was seeking a deal in which Oatis would be released with the closing of Radio Free Europe. On May 26, 1951, Secretary of State Acheson sent a message to the U.S. Embassy in Prague, which, in part read:  [C]zech avoidance publicity re Oatis developments, Dept’s representative concluded conversation by pointed comment we had had nothing to do with radio and press stories alleging Czech proposal RFE for Oatis deal, had not publicized Oatis case “

On May 31, 1951, Assistant Secretary of State sent a message to Acheson on the subject of reaching a policy decision on Czechoslovakia.  He wrote, in part, “The problem is to reach a decision on policy toward Czechoslovakia in view of the implications of the Czechoslovak note of May 21 charging the US Government broadly with hostile incitement from Western Germany against Czechoslovakia and its people, and elaborating two specific cases of such hostile activity in the RFE broadcasts and an alleged border violation on May 4.” And,

The impulse to the message was doubtless the inauguration on May 1 of RFE Czech and Slovak language broadcasts from a location near Munich. A directional antenna beamed toward Czechoslovakia with a power of 135 kilowatts transmits programs amounting to a total of about eleven hours each day. It is apparent from the Czechoslovak note that the RFE transmissions from Munich have made a real impact and that the Czechoslovak authorities regard this as a climactic step in a campaign of mounting US efforts against the regime. They are thus reacting strongly against our increasing pressure which also includes hard-hitting VOA programs and mounting unconventional activities.

Oatis was held incommunicado nearly 70 days before he was brought to trial. He was questioned around the clock, held in solitary confinement, and permitted no visitors, not even the U.S. Ambassador. 

Next Part Two: The Trial of William N. Oatis