“Of late, more and more anonymous denunciations and reports concerning
crimes and actions closely connected with the peculiar conditions
of war times are coming in in the provinces given over to my
supervision. Such reports not only lack confirmation in most cases,
but investigations prove that they are caused in the majority of cases
not by a patriotic desire to help the military authorities, but by
personal reasons of revenge, not only not admissible in war time, but
also particularly criminal. By distracting the attention of officials
from their necessary duties, these reports promote disorder and
excitement among the local population.
“I have asked the various Governors to order the police officials
under their supervision not to institute any investigations on the
basis of anonymous denunciations except in extraordinary cases
(Article 300 of the Criminal Code), but to forward these denunciations
to me and wait for orders.
“In the case of signed denunciations and reports, the police officials
must first of all question the denunciator, warning him of the
consequence of a false denunciation, and if any signs of crime should
be established in the courses of the examination, he should be dealt
with according to Articles 250 to 261 of the Criminal Code, or the
Governors should impose penalties in their administrative capacity. I
order the police officials to strictly follow Article 254 of the Code
when making an investigation. Witnesses found to bear false reports
shall be subjected to criminal prosecution according to Article 940 of
the Code.
“In view of the particularly criminal character of false denunciations
in war time, I shall apply the most rigorous measures to those found
guilty of this offense.
“I have asked the Governors to make this order public to all.”[32]