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October 22
George Blake"s Soviet spymasters are thought to be behind the breakout
1966: Double-agent breaks out of jail
England have
One of Britain"s most notorious double-agents, George Blake, has escaped
from prison in a daring break-out believed to have been masterminded by the
Soviet Union.
Wardens at Wormwood Scrubs prison last saw him at the evening roll call, at
1730 GMT.
An hour-and-a-half later, his cell was discovered to be empty.
After a short search, the escape route was found. Bars in a window at the
end of a landing had been sawn away and a rope ladder hung down inside the
prison wall.
Blake is believed to have taken advantage of the free association allowed
between prisoners on Saturday afternoons in the long-term wing, where he had his
cell.
He had served a little over five years of his 42-year sentence.
He was not under high security at the prison, and the privileges he enjoyed
have been heavily criticised in the wake of his escape.
He was removed from the list of likely escapers after only a year, and
wardens were said to have been lulled into a false sense of security by his
seeming acceptance of his exceptionally long sentence.
Blake was charged under the Official Secrets Act in May 1961. During his
trial, part of which was held in camera, he pleaded guilty to five counts of
passing on secrets to the Soviet authorities.
He was sentenced to the maximum of 14 years on each of three counts, to run
consecutively - a total of 42 years. It was the longest jail term any British
court had handed down to an individual to date.
He spent nine years as a double-agent after being converted to Communism
while a prisoner of war in Seoul, during the Korean War.
During this time, he is believed to have betrayed the names of more than 40
British agents to the Soviets. Many disappeared, and were thought to have been
executed.
His actions devastated British secret service operations in the Middle
East. He is believed to have passed on the names of almost every British agent
working in Cairo, Damascus and Beirut.
Lord Parker, Lord Chief Justice, the judge sentencing him, likened his
actions to treason, and said, "It is one of the worst that can be envisaged
other than in a time of war."
Other anti-nuclear demonstrations took place in Rome, Paris, Madrid and
Brussels
1983: CND march attracts biggest ever crowd
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
(CND) has held its biggest ever protest against nuclear missiles in London.
Major cities across Europe have staged similar events.
The biggest crowds, estimated at 600,000, were seen in West Germany, where
Cruise missiles are expected on 15 December.
Despite the numbers being down on the two million predicted the CND hailed
the demonstrations as a success, with around one million people thought to have
taken part.
"The demonstration put paid to the notion that the peace movement is on its
last legs" said the chairman of the CND, Joan Ruddock.
Police estimate 200,000 people turned up in London for the march which
brought the city centre to a standstill.
Speaking in Hyde Park, where the march finished, Labour leader Neil Kinnock
said: "We believe that the only sane use for the Polaris system is to put it
into negotiations to ensure our nuclear disarmament and to bring about force
reduction in the rest of the world."
Liberal MP Paddy Ashdown warned the crowd they needed to broaden their base
and include anyone not totally committed to nuclear weapons.
"The only people we cannot include are those whose policy is actually to
increase nuclear weapons" he said.
Other anti-nuclear demonstrations took place in Rome, Paris, Madrid and
Brussels.
The protests are being held to show lack of support for the movement of
Cruise and Pershing 2 missiles to sites across Europe from the United
States.
The first missiles are expected to arrive at Greenham Common, Berkshire by
the middle of November.
A total of 572 nuclear missiles are planned to be installed in European
Nato countries.
Vocabulary:
envisage : to look in the face of; to apprehend; to regard(正视) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:18:44