William N. Oatis

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William N. Oatis (January 4, 1914-September 16, 1997), was an American journalist. He gained international attention when he was charged with espionage by the Czech government in 1951 and was subsequently jailed for 18 months.

He started his journalism career with his high school newspaper, studied at DePauw University for one year and then returned to Marion, Illinois, where he worked for the Leader-Tribune. In 1937 he started working for the Associated Press in Indianapolis, Indiana.

He served in the U.S Army during World War II, studying Japanese at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

He was working as the AP bureau chief in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1951 when he was arrested. The Czech government said Oatis was dangerous because of his insistence on obtaining only "accurate, correct, verified information." The case made international headlines, as well as leading to trade and travel embargos against Czechoslovakia. Oatis was released in May 1953, shortly after the death of Joseph Stalin and an angry letter from President Eisenhower to the Czech government. The Czech government said it had been moved to pardon Oatis by a poignant plea from Oatis' wife, Laurabelle. A Czech court cleared him of all charges in 1959.

The Voice of America called Oatis "the first American martyr to press freedom behind the Iron Curtain." The State Department denounced the Czech verdict as a ludicrous travesty and the U.S. press said Oatis was condemned for no more than doing his job as a reporter. The case's Orwellian overtones were highlighted by the prosecution's assertion at the show trial that Oatis, a careful reporter, was "particularly dangerous because of his discretion and insistence on obtaining only accurate, correct, verified information."

Oatis, who went on to cover the United Nations for three decades, retired in 1984 after a 47-year career at the AP. In addition to Prague, Oatis, a native of Marion, Ind., worked for AP in Indianapolis, New York, London and Sofia.

In 1992 William N. Oatis was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

Oatis died in September, 1997 at Long Island College Hospital after a long illness, according to his son Jonathan. He was survived by wife Laurabelle and sons Jonathan and Jeremy.