E. Germans Release Man Caught Fleeing

An East German man who swam across a river to West Berlin only to be dragged back by the hair by border guards has been freed by East German authorities, Allied officials said today.

The man was turned over to Western authorities one day after the three Western Allies--the United States, France and Britain--threatened to cut off travel by politicians and diplomats to communist East Germany unless the 21-year-old Martin Notev was freed.

The Allies said Notev had swum the Spree River and reached West Berlin territory when he was seized by border guards on Feb. 14 and dragged back to East Germany.

The guards returned Notev to East Berlin and he was later sentenced to four years in prison. In a statement today, British military authorities said Notev was released and taken to a refugee camp in West Berlin on Wednesday.

The Allies had called the East German guards’ action a kidnaping. They said Notev had already reached West Berlin territory after swimming the Spree River, which separates Communist East Berlin from West Berlin.

Notev and two friends used a truck to crash through border barriers on the Communist side of the river, jumped into the river and swam to the Western side.

The two friends made it safely up the bank but guards from a patrol boat seized Notev as he was trying to get over the bank. The guards pulled at Notev’s hair and took him away, according to the Allies.

The Allies also said one East German guard violated Western territory by stepping on the bank.