The floodlights in the Sofia courtroom came up full force, concentrating on the miserable defendant in the dock. The court asked Traicho Kostov, once Bulgaria's No. 2 Communist, if he wished to make a final statement. Earlier in the trial Kostov had refused to play his assigned role, had denied being guilty of espionage and treason against Bulgaria (TIME, Dec. 19). This was his last chance to redeem himself—and he rejected it. "I must say once again," he began, "that I was never a police agent, never an imperialist spy . . ."...
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