PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: What is your reaction to the proposition, Dr. Laternser?
- 2507 a
DR. LATERNSER: We agree.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Dr. Laternser has indicated that the proposition is accepted by defense counsel.
MR. DENNEY: Thank you, Your Honor.
The certificate in connection with the report, which is 499-A/5 for identification, is offered first - I will take it a little bit out of order. That is the certification, Dr. Laternser.
This is offered in evidence as 490 B-5. I think perhaps it is easier to maintain the number and just change the letter, if that is agreeable with Your Honors.
JUDGE WENNERSTRUM: Why not offer it with the same number and leave it the way it is?
MR. DENNEY: Just because, "A" has always been for "identification", Your Honor. That's all, and every time we have had something to identify and that is received in evidence, we drop the "A", and change it to a "B". Or, we can just drop the letter and offer it as 499 slash 5, if that is agreeable.
JUDGE WENNERSTRUM: I think that would be better.
MR. DENNEY: We will just drop the letter and call it 499 stroke, or diagonal 5, whichever is easier.
The certificate:
"I, Dmitrius Dissopoulos, do hereby certify that the attached documents, Greek Document No. 1 (Vatikiotty Report with reference to my experiences in Haidari Concentration Camp); Greek Document No. 2 (Interrogation of Karamanos Athanasios); Greek Document No. 3 (Decision No. 3 of the Special Court Martial for War Crimes in case against Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller and Bruno Oswald Brauer) and Greek Document No. 6 (Interrogation of Ionnis Leuca Zizis) arc original documents from the files of the Greek National War Crimes Office, Athens, Greece."
It is certified to by Dimitrius Kissopoulos, Director, Greek - 2508 a National War Crimes Office, and then the seal and the date.
The first document to which reference is made there is 499 A/1 which is offered as Exhibit 499/1. This is the affidavit of Constantine Vatikiotty.
DR. LATERNSER: Your Honor, I object to the submission of this document. First of all it is not an affidavit at all. It is just a written document, a statement. Also the signature has not been certified to. I do not know whether in the offer of it at this time, I do not know whether the document will be accepted in that case. I would like the author of this document to come to Nurnberg and cross examine him.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: It is not, of course, an affidavit, and subject to the prior decision of the Tribunal, it will be accepted at this time for what it may be worth, under the prior ruling.
The members of the Tribunal are interested to know whether it may be possible to produce this witness.
MR. DENNEY: I shall inquire, Your Honor. I am not advised at this time whether it is possible or not.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: You will, in due time, inform the Tribunal?
MR. DENNEY: I shall, Your Honor. It is my understanding that at this time the witness is at present serving in a foreign country, as the Ambassador in Rome, and whether or not he will be available I am not presently informed. However, I shall inquire and advise you.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: Very well.
MR. DENNEY: The first page, Athens, September 14, 1945;
"Dear Sir:
"I have the honor to submit a full report of my experiences during the period I was detained by the Germans as a hostage in the Haidari Concentration Camp (near Athens).
"CONSTANTINE VATIKIOTTY" Then the report follows:
"On the 26th of October 1943, members of SS police appeared at my apartment, No.10 Plutarch Street, and peremptorily ordered me and my wife to show them our indentification papers. At the same time they began to search the apartment. They sent away my servant and took over the keys, and upon my asking them the reason for these actions, their chief pointed two pistols at me and covered me with blows, stating that there were accounts to be settled between us.
"Then they ordered e to get ready and follow them. They also arrested my wife, upon whose Polich homelad they heaped the vilest abuse.
"Ye were taken to the Merlin Street Headquarters of the SS., whence after answering a few routine questions, we were removed to prison. I remained in the Averoff prison for forty days, after which without further examination, I was taken, together with other prisoners, to the Haidari concentration camp. Ten days later, my wife was also brought to Haidari and shut up in solitary confinement in a cell in Building No. 15 of the camp. Two months liter she was removed to building No.6, where in time, the number of women imprisoned grew to 300.
"Immediately upon our arrival at this notorious camp the Governor commanded that we be searched. Amid showers of blows and abuse, we were divested of our belongings: blankers, watches, rings, and everything that we possessed. Some of the prisoners had their s hoes and even their garters taken from them. In this half naked condition we were thrown in the celler of one of the buildings, where for several days, during the bitter cold of mid-winter, we lay in the bare pavement. It was only a fortnight later that we were allowed to communicate with our families and permitted to replace the mist necessary among the articles of which we had been robbed.
" My first contact with the terrible prison was a tragic one; for, on that day, I witnesses the first execution which took place within the camp walls.
"As we were leaving the Averoff prison the car in which we were riding stopped at the entrance of the outer gate of the prison yard, and the guard threw into our midst the chained, bruised body of a man in rags. The nan was a Jew from Janina, and a Lieutenant Captain during the afternoon roll-call, the Governor called the interpreter and handed him a paper; he then ordered the unhappy prisoner, who stood next to me, to advance towards him. After lashing at the prisoner's face with a whip, he turned to the interpreter and told him to read aloud the written order.
"The interpreter read as follows:
"The Governor of Haidari, Major Radomski, will personally execute before you the prisoner named Levy, for attempting to escape on the day of his arrest. Beware! 'The game fate awaits you in such a case!!!
"Ashudder of horror went through us all. The terrible Governor then proceeded to carry out his threat. He drew his revolver and fired at the unhappy man, who crumpled to earth in a bloody heap. His German assassin then calmly ordered us to removed him. But, before we had had time to lift the man, the Governor fell upon us and began to lash at us with his whip. Then, tearing his victim our of our hands, he fired at him once more and ordered us to remove the man's shoes. They were now and, consequently, a good prize. Under the supervision of the Sub-warden, we carried the man to a garbage pit, and there as we had neither spade nor pick, we buried him with our hands. The poor fellow was still alive when we covered him with the earth of Haidari.
"On tho following day, I became acquainted with the nightmare of life at the camp. A nightmare which lasted nine long months.
"We aronse at five, and from 6 o'clock to sunset we were employed at forced labor. We carried stones made barbed wire netting, filled and emptied ditches pulled down walls etc,, under the eye of furious and raving guards, who urged us on with lashings and kicks and harsh shouts of "Los, los".
"The fobs at which we were employed had no practical purpose. They were merely forms of punishment for the prisoners. On one day, while I was with a group of men carrying stones, the Governor approached for inspection and, claiming that my pail was not full enough, he whipped me in the face.
"Serving as Governor of the prison was the above mentioned Radomski, about whom it was rumoured that ho had been a porter in Hamburg. He was a sadist, a drunkard a veritable trute. He stalked about the camp ground using his whip, which he usually aimed at the face and eyes of his victims, and often his revolver. A few months later he was success by Lieutenant Karl Fisher a cold blooded, vidicti-infernal hypocrite.
"Our sub-wardens were sub-lieutenant Franz Loeflerl, and adjutant Techt, who distinguished himself by his inhuman conduct. Our other tormentors were all simple soldiers, most of them Hungarian. I recall the name of some of them; Richard Weiss, E. Hirschmann, Niklaus Schmitzer, Jakob Suneritch (The camp's executioner) Schmitzer, A. Melzer, Jakob Murgesan and the worst of all, Emmerich Kowacz.
"Amid snow and mud, withour overcoats, (the Governor forbade it) under a driving rain in Winter, or beneath a blazing sun in Summer, always bareheaded, and barefooted most of the time, the prisoners toiled and counted the hours until the moment came for them to withdraw to their cells. But even then how could one rest? There were no beds and not enough bed coverings, for the Governor only allowed us on or two ragged blankets. Sleeping conditions were awful. Owing to lack of space we were packed like sardines, and we were covered with lice. All during that Winter, water was distributed at rare intervals, and we had to depend on the arrival of the water wagon from Athens for a little water.
But there was no gasoline, and the waterwagon rarely made the trip. One can well imagine the condition of the latrines. The sewers were rarely emptied, and the prisoners were often forced to relieve their physical needs in the halls and staircases.
"Those among the prisoners who were ill had no possibility of receiving treatment, for the only doctor in the camp a prisoners, as well as the rest of us had mo medicines whatever to dispense. Besides, there were always very few patients in the infirmary, for sick leave permits were issued by the Governor, and he, as a rule, refused to grant such permits if the patient had a temperature of less the 104. A sick prisoner was not even allowed to remain in his cell without special leave. Each prisoner was required to be present at morning roll-call in any case, and whoso who were too sick to walk were carried on the shoulders of the rest.
"On our way to and from work, we were forced to sing (Arveit und Freude') even though that day might have witnessed execution of some of our comrades on penalty of being deprived of mess.
"I was once held for three days in solitary confinement, in a cell whore I had to stand all days. My food consisted of 25 grams of bread, and once a day, a few beans boiled in water, which - to add to hunger the torment of thirst - was saturated with salt. It was only several hours later that I was allowed to drink a litter water.
"The most insignificant infringement of prison rules brought on the most serious consequence for all the prisoners. Smoking was forbidden ans so was the reading of books and newspapers, (German reading matter not excepted) We were also forbidden to bring in food from outside. Whenever any infringement of the above laws was discovered, the prisoners were exposed to the fury of the Governor. They were forced to do the "Serpent crawl" on the ground, while the guards beat them, and the camp's specially trained police dogs attacked them with tooth and nail. Or they were made to run about the camp, with huge stones on their shoulders, until they fainted.
"Sometimes a punishment was inflicted fro no special reson or justification other than the desire to terrorize and torment the prisoners. Thus, one day, the Governor order the guars to throw all the prisoners belongings out of the windows. Blankets, overcoats, suitcases, baskets, underwear, mess -kits, wore tossed pell-mell in the courtyard. A special roll call was then ordered, following which the Governor confiscated whatever articles were new or in a good condition. While we were impatiently awaiting to be told to remove the rest of our belongings, we suddenly saw the guards piling up our things into heaps and srring fire to them. These bonfires made up the belongings of thousands of prisoners - many of whom came from provicial areas and would be unable to replace them -kept on burning for several hours while the Governor, like a modern Nero enjoyed and sight and laughed and joked with his guards.
"Every morning at roll call, we were disposed into groups of a hundred and. the Governor received a report of the number of prisoner then serving in the camp. Following this a certain number of prisoners' namers was called out. The number of names of prisoners to be released was usually every small; rarely exceeding four or five at a time. Owing to the lack of system and coordination between the different services of the SS., it often happened that men, who had been ordered released by Headquarters but whose bills of release had not been received at the camp, were detained in prison fro longer period of time while on the other hand, it happened that names were called for release of prisoners who had been sent to Germany or executed.
"Those who were called for questioning were taken to the SS, headquarters on merlin Street. They were usually returned to the prison camp on the evening of the same day, unless they were kept at Merlin Street. Sometimes they disappeared altogether. The bodies of some of them were found later, at various points about the capital.
"In the Merlin Street building there were chambers with special installation where those undergoing questioning were often subjected to the most refined methods of torture. This lasted for hours, and often for daus. At Haidari I saw prisoners with broken limbs, with bodies all black and blue from the blows they had received (The Germans used four kind of whips), or bearing the marks of terrible burns made by applying burning torches to them I saw others whom the questioners had hung up by special pulleys, with their hands tied behind their backs. As they swung in midair, the guards beat them with wire whips or iron rods. Those who had suffered this kind of torture had their arms wrenched from their sockets and were unable for many weeks to make use of their upper limbs. I saw prisoners who were brought back from Merlin Street in a half dying condition and who were allowed to expert without being permitted to receive medial aid. My wife saw women prisoners who had been made to sit on a lighted electric range, or who had been beaten to such an extent that they were not able to move for days.
"Many prisoners were transferred to the camp after spending one, two or even three months in solitary confinement cells in prison. These men bore the appearance of skeletons; some suffered from tuberculosis, others had been driven half-made.
"Loneliness, despair, and the constant fear of execution wore on men's nerves and broke the strongest constitutions. One afternoon, during the period allowed for prisoners in solitary confinement to circulate in the yard before the prison buildings, we suddenly saw one man leaving his place in line, and coming towards the camp, gesticulating wildly. The unhappy man had obviously suffered a mental breakdown. He had not had time to advance a few steps when the sentry at the opposite end fired, and the prisoner dropped to the ground. The Governor, being notified arrived and searched the prisoner's clothes, after which he finished the man off with his revolver and departed, after kicking the lifeless body. For several hours the victim lay unburied on the step where he had been assassinated.
"Another man cut his own throat with a razor, while we were lined up before the Governor. In the women's wards, a woman cut her wrists and was allowed to bleed to death, the doctor not being permitted to attend her.
"The camp rule was that all prisoners should have their hair shaven close. No one was exempted, not even Greek Orthodox priests, despite the protests of the Archbishop.
"The Germans had turned some of the camp buildings into workshops. Here the prisoners repaired furniture - confiscated from Greek homes - and manufactured goods which were intended for various services of the SS or were shipped to Germany.
"All the prisoners in the camp were considered as hostages, and were liable to execution in reprisals for any act committed against the Forces of Occupation. For every German soldier killed, fifty prisoners of Haidari were executed. During the nine months of my stay in the camp about two thousand prisoners were executed at various intervals.
Among those executed were 25 women.
"During the last months I worked together with other prisoners in a storeroom where the Germans brought goods stolen from Greek homes and shops to be sorted and made into packages. This storeroom was situated near Building 15 of the prison, and from the storeroom windows, we were able to witness the gruesome scenes taking place before that building.
"Those who were to be executed, and whose names were usually called out at morning roll-call, were taken to the ground floor of the building, A little later, one or two cars full of soldiers, and another empty truck stopped before the main entrance. The Governor stood at the door and called out the names of the prisoners who, halfnaked and barefoot, emerged one by one and mounted the truck, During the short distance from the door to the car, the doomed men were mercilessly beaten by their guards, and covered with blood they were packed face downwards in the truck and driven to the place of execution. We witnessed this scene many times. On the following day, the clothes of the executed men were turned over to our storeroom to be sorted and stored away.
"Sometimes the proceedings followed a different pattern. Thus, one evening, there was an extra roll-call. Thirteen names were called out, and the men answering to them were informed that they were to be released on the following morning. The men passed the night in singing and celebrating their coming liberation, but, on the next morning, they were taken to a hill outside the camp and executed. At another time, the Governor invited those who were in need of antisyphilitic treatment to report to him, as they were to be transferred to the Syngros Hospital. Several men presented themselves, among which there were some who were not sick, but who found this a good opportunity to get some rest in the Hospital. This group, too, was executed outside of Haidari.
"During the first days in May, about four hundred prisoners were executed.
Of these, one hundred were rounded up one evening at an extra roll-call and spent the whole night awaiting their doom in the company of jeering guards, who cheered them with the words "Morgen kaput".
"Other prisoners of Haidari were used as hostages on German trains. In groups of fifty they were penned up in open wagons, which were placed before the locomotive ready to be blown up in case of a partisan attack on the train.
"In the month of April 1944, the Governor of Haidari decreed that all prisoners should undergo a thorough medical examination, and that a list should be made of those in good physical condition. He did not explain the purpose of these measures.
"A few days later, at a special assembly, the prisoners were all ordered to sit down on the ground. In the sentry boxes were double rows of guards with machine-guns aimed in our direction. Noting our anxiety, the Governor hastened to state that this was not to be a wholesale execution, it was merely a question of transferring a certain number of prisoners to another camp. He then proceeded to call out the names of 1200 men prisoners, to which were added those of one hundred women. It dawned on us suddenly that these men and women were to be sent to Germany. Sure enough, on this very same day, these "enthusiastic workers" were piled into trucks waiting before the camp entrance, and shipped as they were, without extra clothing or shoes, to Germany, where they were put to work regardless of profession or social status. So far as I know, none of them has ever been heard of again.
"Another way of "recruiting" workers was through the famous system of "blocks", i.e. the wholesale rounding up of citizens in various sections of the capital. Hundreds of these men were led to Haidari, subject to a physical examination, and, following a few days stay in the camp, were packed off to Germany. Those who were not considered physically fit, were released. This "block" system went on all during the Summer.
Its purpose was to make up for the failure of voluntary presentation of workers. From the provinces the Germans also brought to Haidari hundreds of women, especially young peasants, who were sent to Germany, I ignore for what purpose.
"Then came the Jewish drama.
"Thousands of men, women, and children were tom from their homes in the provinces and later in the Dodecanese, and taken to Haidari, where, after being stripped of all their belongings, they were mercilessly beaten and subjected to unspeakable torture, and whence they were finally shipped to Austria and Czechoslovakia. The women, especially, were subjected, during the search on their persons, to the most atrocious humiliations.
"From early morning to late at night, these unhappy victims of German brutality were forced to remain out of doors, without food or water. When they had at last been checked and listed, they were shut up in unfinished, roofless buildings, and packed, in groups of five or six hundred, into rooms where there was barely space for two hundred. They were not permitted to circulate in the yard; medical care was denied them; those who were ill died. The other prisoners were strictly forbidden to hold any intercourse with them, and those who attempted to approach them and offer them a little water were beaten by the guards. During the listing of these Jews, the soldiers robbed them of their luggage, of their money, of all their valuables, and many of the prisoners threw away their money or buried it in the earth to avoid handing it over to the Germans. Following the departure of the Dodecanesian Jews, we beheld the soldiers, with the Governor at their head searching about for hours to retrieve the abandoned money and jewelry. Thousands of gold pounds were picked up from the ground on that particular day.
"From our cell windows we were able to watch the whole Jewish drama. We saw the terrible beatings, the transporting of sick or dying old men in blankets, the crushing of small children. We saw the German soldiers beating the women with the butts of their guns and stripping them of their clothes.
We saw the Governor of Haidari, Karl Fisher, using his whip against little children, who writhed on the ground in an agony of pain, with one hand, while caressing his dog with the other.
"A number of Haidari prisoners who had been sent to the Rouf Railroad station to prepare the wagons which were to transport the ill-fated Jews, described, on their return, the terrible conditions under which they were to travel. One hundred prisoners were to be pened in wagons containing barely room enough for half the number.
There were no windows to the wagons, and the only food given the transporters was a handful of raw broadbeans. The wagons were so crowded that mothers bore their babies on their shoulders to save them from suffocation.
"The International Red Cross commission was not permitted to approach these unfortunate people, who - as is well known - were never to reach their destination.
"Any prisoner who spent a term at Haidari, especially during the governorship of the notorious Major Rademski, can testify that all the facts I have reported are an understatement of reality.
"I might add that those arrested by the SS had no means of defense, and were never tried. They were sent to Germany, shot, or released, without further formality. Many prisoners were never examined, and some were executed never knowing the reasons for their arrest.
. . . . . . . . . .
"On the 13th of February 1944, that is about four months after my arrest, I was taken from Haidari to Marlin Street for questioning. But the examiner did not turn up that day, and I had to stand motionless from morning to night in one of the corridors with my face turned towards the wall. I was given no food, and, to my plea that I be given a little water at least, I received the answer that there was none. I was returned to Haidari that evening, and was summoned to Merlin Street two days later.
Until that time I was ignorant of the reasons for my arrest. A few days later my wife was also summoned for questioning. We were both charged with pro-British feelings, espionage, making out lists of collaborators, writing articles for the Underground press, and, in general, with hatred against the conquerors. Let it be noted that the search in my apartment had yielded no evidence whatever to support the above claims, and that the examiner had assured us that we should be set free in a few days. We were, nevertheless, kept at Haidari six months longer.
"On the 22nd August 1944, after almost 10 whole months of imprisonment we were finally released. Not, however before signing a statement that we would divulge nothing of what we had seen or heard of Haidari, on penalty of death.
"We later heard that at the beginning of September, a few days before the SS left Greece, the Germans had executed in the basement of the Merlin Street building, all those prisoners of Haidari suspected of espionage.
"When I returned home, I found the furniture intact, but most of my household effects had disappeared........
CONSTANTINE VATIKIOTTY."
DR. LATERNSER: Your Honor, I must ask for an explanation on the part of the Prosecution. Against whom is this unofficial report meant, and against whom is it being submitted?
MR. DENNEY: If your Honors please, that's part of the report against the Defendant Spiedel, as Military Commander Greece, against the Defendant Weichs, as Commander in Chief Southeast, at that time, and Commander in Chief of Army Group F, and against the Defendant Foertsch, his Chief of Staff.
DR. LATERNSER: As defense counsel I would like to contradict this, and I would object to bringing this report in connection with the said defendants. I am looking forward to the proofs to be submitted.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: You may proceed. May we request the Interpreter to speak somewhat more loudly, please?
INTERPRETER: Yes, sir, your Honor.
MR. DENNEY: The next is 499A for identification, is offered as 499/2, this being an interrogation of the Witness Athanasios Kavamanos at Tripolis on 5 May 1945.
DR. LATERNSER: Your Honor, I object to the submission of this document as well. There is no connection of this document with any of the defendants.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: For the same reason assigned by the Tribunal for Document No. 499-A-1, it will be received for what it may be worth.
MR. DENNEY: I don't think it will be necessary to read this into the record, Your Honors; however, it is offered against the Defendants Weichs and Foertsch -- the Commander in Chief Southeast and the Chief of Staff at that time, and also against the Defendant Felmy, whose troops were in command in this area.
PRESIDING JUDGE BURKE: I think the Tribunal should point out that it lacks very many of the elements necessary to constitute valid proof.
MR. DENNEY: And the next is 499-A-3, for identification, the decision of the Special Court martial for War Criminals, which is offered as 499/3. The first page contains a recitation of the composition of the Court, and the second paragraph sets up its being "convened in public sitting in accordance with Const. Act 90.1945 at the Central Hall of the Court of Appeals at Athens," and it convened on 23 October 1946, holding in custody the listed defendants: "1 Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller - General of the Infantry; 2. Bruno Oswald Braeuer - General of the parachutists; 3. Fritz Schubert Sergeant. The above-mentioned were sent to this Tribunal by Decision No. 16/1946 of the Judicial Counsel composed according to Const. Act No. 73/1945, to be tried for the acts enumerated in the Decision, i.e. murders, arson, rape, systematic terrorism, torture etc. The President called the names of the accused and the following two were present and without handcuffs. They answered as follows to the questions concerning their identity put to them by the President.
Because the accused declared that they had no knowledge of the Greek language; their answer was communicated through interpreters nominated according to Law." And then there is the personal information with reference to the Defendant Braeuer and with reference to the Defendant Mueller. "The President called the names of the lawyers, appointed by him ex-officio, according to the rules of Const. Acts for each of the defendants." And then the list of the lawyers -- two for the Defendant Mueller and three for the Defendant Braeuer.
"The defendants refused to accept these persons as counsels, stating that they requested the Ministry of Justice by written demand, to appoint as their counsels the lawyers used in the trial of War Criminals Ravalli and Caltsef. Finally they demanded the lawyers of Athens, Const. Tsoukalas, Ilias Microuleas, George Tsilithras, St. Ioanidis and George Antoniades, as their counsels. Oroly G. Tsilithras and St. Ioanidis were present and said they accepted their nomination as defense counsels for the defendants.
"The President, to complete the number of defense counsels required for each of the defendants nominated the lawyers of Athens, Ath. Krystallis and John Zygalakis as defense counsels for the defendants.
"The defense counsels said that they would perform their duty faithfully and conscientiously and the President asked the King's Counsel express his opinion regarding the defendant F. Schubert who was absent. The King's Counsel proposed that the case the defendant F. Schubert be separated from the present trial according to Law.
The defense counsels said that they had no objections to this. The Court discussed the matter secretly and. decided unanimously as follows: Where as, according to art. 7 B of Const. Acts 13/1945, it is not permissible to try War Criminals in absentia, if on the occasion of a trial some of the accused are absent; the case of those absent must be separated and only those present must be tried. THEREFORE, the Court orders that the case of the absent Fr. Schubert be separated, and the trial proceed with the case of the defendants who are present, namely, B. Braeuer and W. Mueller.
"Following this, the President ordered the secretary to read decision No. 16/1946 of the Judicial Committee. Thereupon, the following persons gave notice that they would be represented in the trial to ask indemnity for moral pain.
And thereafter is listed the names of the people and the indemnity which they requested: the first "for the murder of her husband and the burning of her home," the next "for the execution of his brother and the burning of his house," the next "for the execution of his father, two brothers, and the burning of his home," the next "for the murder of his father," and the last "for the shooting of his brother." And then in the next paragraph on Page 4:
"The defense Counsels speaking in turn asked for the rejection of the a.m. demands for indemnity. The lawyers of those demanding indemnity, asked that objections of the Defense Counsels be rejected.
"The King's Counsel demanded that the objections of the Defense counsel be rejected.
"The Court discussed the matter and decided as follows: "Whereas it has been ordered by Law 1699 every person sustaining damage as the result of a punishable act, has the right to ask for indemnity from a Criminal Court for the moral pain which he suffered from the act. The Court Martial, according to art. '40 of the Military Penal Law, does not have the right to decide on this indemnity as ruled by Law 1699. Whereas, by art. 932 of the Civil Law it is ordered that a pecuniary indemnity for moral pain, is a civil matter which does not have the character of a punishment. According to art. 240 of Law 2803 the Courts Martial try only criminal acts and never civil matters, and the civil demands are sent to the civil Courts. Therefore the pecuniary compensation cannot be tried by the Court Martials.