No. 627.
Mr. Heap to Mr. Evarts.
Constantinople, October 11, 1880. (Received Oct. 30.)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches numbered 272 and 273, dated the 15th and 22d of September respectively, relating to the trial of the persons charged with having murdered the Rev. Dr. Parsons and his servant in July last near Ismid.
I have to inform the Department that the three Turks, Ali, Eyoob, and Soliman, accused of these murders were brought up for trial on Saturday last, the 9th instant. Ali, who was convicted of murder in the first degree, was sentenced in virtue of the last paragraph of article 174 of the Ottoman penal code, to death by hanging, and Eyoob and Soliman, as accomplices, were sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment with hard labor, in conformity with article 175 of the same code.
I sent a telegram in cipher to the Department last evening informing it of the result of the trial, which was not communicated to me officially until then.
I was with the judges for two hours before the beginning of the trial, which was appointed to commence at twelve o’clock, but was delayed until two, on account of the difficulty of conveying Ali from the prison to the court-room. He alleged that he was unable to walk or be removed and was finally brought in a carriage. I abstained from any pressure on the judges, stating only that all the United States Government desired was a fair and impartial trial of the accused and their sentence to the penalties provided by the Ottoman criminal code for the crimes of which they might be convicted. After the trial, which lasted about two hours, the judges retired to the chamber of consultation (chambre des déliberations), and asked me to remain with them until the verdict was rendered. I thought it proper, however, to leave them to deliberate freely.
It is very satisfactory to state that the trial was conducted with perfect decorum, order, and solemnity. The court was composed of the president and four associate judges. After the public prosecutor had read the indictment, the prisoners were interrogated in turn by the presiding judge, and they made a full avowal of their guilt. Ali related minutely how he had first killed Garabet, the servant, and then Dr. Parsons. Eyoob and Soliman had stood by and witnessed the murders without taking an active part in them. They divided the plunder and helped to conceal the bodies.
The counsel for the prisoners made an appeal in their defense, laying stress on their youth.
Messrs. Ede and Tinghir, the counsel employed by this legation to watch and assist the prosecution, were allowed to address the court and made eloquent and convincing arguments.
The prisoners looked extremely wretched and appeared to fully realize their awful position. They have the marsh fever, contracted at Ismid during their confinement at that place, and are in a pitiable state.
The cipher telegram I sent on the 10th reads as follows:
Murderers of Dr. Parsons and servant tried yesterday. Ali sentenced to he hung; his two accomplices to imprisonment at hard labor for fifteen years. October 10.
I shall transmit copies of all the correspondence with the Turkish authorities and other papers relating to this case as soon as I can have translations made.
[Page 991]At an interview with the minister of foreign affairs on the 7th instant I endeavored to impress on him that the Government of the United States would not be satisfied with anything short of the condemnation of the parties found guilty of this horrible crime to the severest penalty of the law, and that if the Ottoman courts failed to satisfy this reasonable demand it would cause a very painful impression in the United States, where this murder had created strong doubts as to the security of foreigners in the Ottoman dominions, and that the Turkish authorities owed it as much to themselves as to us to see that justice was done on the criminals. Assim Pasha promised to speak to the minister of justice the same day and to advise him to allow no further delays and to see that the accused were tried in strict accordance with the law. The impartiality of the trial may be attributed to this timely injunction of Assim Pasha.
In conclusion I have to bear testimony to the energy and intelligence of Mr. Gargiulo, the first interpreter of the legation, which have contributed in a large measure to the satisfactory result of the trial.
I am, &c.,
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim.