GallerySaturday, 15 July 2000
|
Subj: |
Latvian mailer & AOL Lat Chat reminder for Sunday, July 16th |
| Date: | 7/15/00 2:34:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time |
| From: | Silvija |
| File: | Art-nouveau-shadows-cropped.jpg (69567 bytes) |
| DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute |
Sveiki all!
Well, this is our last mailer for a few weeks. The
mailer will be on hiatus while we're in Latvia. (We leave the 20th!) So, if any
of you out there will be there as well, drop an Email and we might have a
chance to get together! Seriously, it's time to start the pre-travel fasting in
preparation for all that good food that's going to be coming our way. :-)
We expect the mailer to return with the issue for Sunday, August 13th.
This week, the news again has a familiar ring to
it...more fallout on the Savenko conviction, the possible extradition of
Konrads Kalejs (and reaction from the Weisenthal Center). There was good news,
too, with the IMF indicating Latvia's economy is poised for growth, and Eli
Lilly donating drugs to combat tuberculosis — multi-drug resistant TB is
becoming an epedemic in the former USSR, including Estonia and Latvia. Finally,
while the French celebrate July 14th to commemorate the storming of the
Bastille, it's also the day that the Soviet Union formally annexed the
Baltics:
- Russian Foreign ministry blasts Latvian court for jailing war veteran
- Russia blasts Latvia over war crime case
- Latvia approves extradition treaty with Australia
- IMF says Latvia poised for economic rebound
- Latvia cautious on new Russian foreign policy
- Eli Lilly to donate drugs to fight tuberculosis
- On This Day - July 14th
- Extradition Deal Signed in Latvia
This week's link is to Daugava's Vanagi (the
world-wide Latvian Welfare Society) in England. Among other things, they host
regular get-togethers. Finally, an excuse to check out London!
This
week's picture offers a small taste of Riga's Art Nouveau
architecture.
Remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously
appears every Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting
until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link:
Town Square - Latvian chat.
Ar visu labu,
IN ACCORDANCE WITH AOL'S MAIL POLICY and good manners, please let Silvija (Silvija) know if you wish to be deleted from our mailing list. Past mailers are archived at latvians.com. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
|
Daugavas Vanagi in England can be found at:
|
RF ministry blasts Latvian court
for jailing war veteran
COMTEX Newswire Monday,
July 10, 2000 9:57:00 AM
MOSCOW, July 10
(Itar-Tass) — The Russian Foreign Ministry blasted a Latvian court's
decision to put World War II veteran in prison and described it as "grossly
inhuman".
On July 7, a court in Liepaja, Latvia, ruled
that 87-year-old invalid Yevgeny Savenko be put in jail for "genocide against
the Latvian people" in the 1940s.
"Despite all the
statements about the independence of their judiciary, Latvian authorities have
once again shown ingenuity in administering justice," the ministry said in a
statement on Monday.
"It is absolutely obvious that this
process is politically motivated to benefit the circles which want to take
revenge for the past by staging a series of such verdicts and by harassing
anti-Hitler resistance veterans", the document said.
It
also said that "in civilised countries, courts take into account the age and
condition of convicts".
zak/©2000
ITAR-TASS
Russia
blasts Latvia over war crime case
Reuters North
America Monday, July 10, 2000 12:45:00 PM
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
MOSCOW (Reuters)
— Russia criticized Latvia Monday for imposing a prison sentence on an
87-year-old Russian World War Two veteran on charges of crimes against
humanity.
In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry
accused Riga of masterminding a campaign of retribution against war
veterans.
The statement signaled President Vladimir
Putin's intention not to soften Moscow's fierce criticism of the tiny Baltic
state, which Russia has long accused of mistreating its large ethnic-Russian
minority.
Last week a regional court in the Latvian town
of Liepaja sentenced a former Soviet KGB official, Yevgeny Savenko, to two
years in prison for his role in persecuting several dozen people during World
War Two, nine of whom were sentenced to death.
"We
consider the approach adopted in the case of this elderly invalid to be
blatantly inhuman," the ministry said. "For Savenko, the sentence is tantamount
to capital punishment."
Russia has expressed outrage over
a recent series of trials in Latvia of elderly ex-Soviet security officials
accused of crimes committed during the war years. Former President Boris
Yeltsin turned down a medal offered by Latvia's government earlier this year as
a sign of Russia's anger.
The Russian statement accused
the Latvian government of exercising undue influence over the trial
proceedings.
"The (Savenko) trial was clearly commandeered
by those circles which, through a series of such sentences, through moral
persecution of anti-Nazi resistance veterans, seek retribution for the past,"
the ministry said.
"The position of senior Latvian
officials who contributed to creating an atmosphere of intolerance around war
veterans has also played a role in giving the trial accusatory
undertones."
Monday Moscow also unveiled a new foreign
policy outline which describes protection of ethnic Russians in former Soviet
states as a top priority.
Latvia
approves extradition treaty with Australia
Reuters
North America Tuesday, July 11, 2000 10:01:00 AM
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
RIGA, Latvia (Reuters) —
Latvia Tuesday approved the signing of an extradition treaty with Australia
that could pave the way for bringing suspected Nazi war criminal Konrad Kalejs
back to Latvia for trial.
Kalejs, 86, who holds Australian
citizenship and has lived in Melbourne since fleeing Britain six months ago, is
suspected of aiding in the World War Two slaughter of Jews in Latvia, where he
was a member of the Nazi-backed Arajs hit squad.
Australia
approved the treaty last week and its ambassador to Sweden, Stephen Brady, will
come to Latvia to sign the document Friday.
The Latvian
government Tuesday gave its formal backing to the treaty and passed it to
parliament for ratification.
Under the treaty Kalejs could
be extradited if sufficient evidence is produced to warrant a trial. It takes
effect 30 days after both sides notify each other that domestic procedures are
in place to bring the treaty into force.
In both
countries, this condition means that the document must be ratified by
parliament.
Latvian prosecutors reopened investigations
into Kalejs's wartime past last year when the discovery that he was living in a
retired people's home in Britain led to a media outcry and charges that Riga
was soft on war criminals.
Kalejs admitted he was a member
of the Arajs squad, which was responsible for 30,000 murders in Latvia where 95
percent of the 70,000 pre-war Jewish population were killed during German
occupation.
But he has denied all war crimes charges,
saying he only fought Russia on the eastern front and was studying at
university when the killings took place in 1941.
IMF says Latvia poised for economic
rebound
Reuters World Report Tuesday, July
11, 2000 11:30:00 AM
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters)
— Latvia has good economic prospects in the medium term if the government
keeps policies tight and removes the remaining barriers to private sector
activities, the International Monetary Fund said on
Tuesday.
But a statement summarizing a June 30 review of
the Latvian economy said Latvia's "stubbornly large" current account deficit
could pose economic risks. Monetary policy and the exchange rate regime pegging
the local currency to the IMF's SDR basket of currencies were both
appropriate.
"Latvia...is now poised for a strong economic
rebound in an environment marked by relatively low inflation and a stable
exchange rate regime," the IMF said.
"The positive outlook
is enhanced by the prudent tightening of fiscal policy since mid-1999, the
generally cautious monetary policy stance and continued progress in structural
reforms," it said.
Latvia's economy is recovering strongly
from a slowdown triggered by the Russian financial crisis of 1998, when Russia
devalued its currency and defaulted on some debt.
The IMF
said the recovery appeared to be driven by a rebound in exports and transport
and transit services, as well as a rise in consumer spending. It said gross
domestic product rose 0.1 percent last year, but gave no forecast for
2000.
The IMF also praised Latvia's determination to
restore the health of the banking system, although it said some directors had
"expressed reservations" about recently introduced long-term foreign exchange
swaps designed to provide liquidity to the financial
sector.
Latvia needed to monitor credit expansion to
ensure that loan quality, loan loss provisioning and bank risk management
remained adequate, the IMF said.
Latvia, along with its
Baltic neighbours of Estonia and Lithuania, won its independence in 1991 when
the Soviet Union collapsed.
Latvia
cautious on new Russian foreign policy
Reuters
World Report Tuesday, July 11, 2000 12:43:00 PM
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
RIGA, July 11 (Reuters)
— Latvia welcomed Russia's new foreign policy doctrine on Tuesday but said
questions remained about how Moscow would pursue its goal of protecting ethnic
Russian minorities in former Soviet republics.
Russia's
new foreign policy, presented on Monday, was aimed at overcoming internal
problems through maintaining security and pursuing favourable trade
relations.
But the doctrine also set as a top priority the
protection of ethnic Russians in ex-Soviet states, an troubling issue for
Latvia, where about one-third of the country's 2.4 million citizens are
Russian-speakers.
"The fact that the programme has been
made public should be positively evaluated because it brings considerable
clarity (concerning Russian foreign policy)...But what is important is not so
much the clarity of principles but their realisation," Foreign Minister Indulis
Berzins said in an interview on state radio.
Relations
between Moscow and Riga have been at best strained, and at worst reminiscent of
Cold War rhetoric, since Latvia broke away from the former Soviet Union and
regained independence in 1991 for the first time in 50
years.
Russia has accused the Baltic state of mistreating
its large ethnic-Russian minority — most of whom migrated during the
Soviet era.
It has recently increased accused Latvia of
reviving Nazism by beginning court cases against elderly veterans accused of
war crimes and genocide when they fought for Russia against the Hitler's
army.
Berzins said the integration of Russian speakers was
in Latvia's interest and an easing of tough citizenship language laws —
which were seen as making it difficult for Russian-speakers to integrate due to
the strong Latvian language requirements — were proof legislation met
international human rights standards.
"We are interested
in the integration (of the Russian-speaking minority) and outside pressure, if
any would occur, will only impede this process," Berzins said.
Eli Lilly to donate drugs to fight
tuberculosis
Reuters Financial Report Wednesday,
July 12, 2000 2:20:00 AM
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) —
Drug maker Eli Lilly and Co. plans to announce a deal with the World Health
Organisation to donate high-priced antibiotics to fight a form of tuberculosis
spreading in Russia and other parts of the world, the Wall Street Journal
reported in Wednesday's electronic edition.
The donation
would be one of the first joint public-private sector efforts to combat
drug-resistant tuberculosis, the Journal said. A Lilly spokesman told the
Journal that the company would likely make the announcement within
weeks.
The move follows announcements by major
pharmaceuticals companies slashing prices or donating drugs to fight disease in
developing nations. The latest focus has been on efforts to combat
HIV/AIDS.
Lilly's drugs would likely be used in a pilot
project to treat and monitor about 1,000 Russian prisoners and some civilians
infected with tuberculosis that is resistant to conventional treatments, the
newspaper said, citing people close to the
negotiations.
The project may also be expanded to Latvia,
Estonia, Peru, Morocco, Chile and the Philippines, the Journal
said.
Details of the agreement between Lilly and the World
Health Organisation have not been finalised, the Journal reported. But the deal
will likely involve Lilly providing some quantity of two high-priced drugs and
selling an additional amount at market price, the newspaper said.
On This Day — July 14th
PA News Thursday, July 13, 2000 9:49:00 PM
© 2000 PA News.
(Excerpt)
NATIONAL
DAY OF FRANCE
| 1789 | The Bastille, the state prison in Paris, was stormed by the citizens of Paris and burned to the ground at the start of the French Revolution. |
| 1940 | The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. |
Extradition Deal Signed in
Latvia
AP Online Friday, July 14, 2000 11:24:00
AM
© 2000 The Associated
Press.
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvia
and Australia have signed a long-awaited extradition treaty considered crucial
in efforts to bring an alleged Nazi back to his Latvian homeland to face war
crimes charges.
The signing cleared a major obstacle to
deporting Konrads Kalejs, now a resident of Melbourne, Australia. But the
treaty requires parliamentary approval, and an indictment would have to be
handed down before Kalejs could be put on a plane for
Latvia.
Jewish groups and Nazi hunters say Kalejs, 86, was
a key figure in the Arajs Kommando, a Nazi-sponsored death squad. The squad is
believed to be responsible for the murder of 30,000 people, mostly Latvian
Jews, during the 1941-44 German occupation.
Kalejs, who
denies the allegations, hasn't been indicted because prosecutors haven't
completed their investigation. They said they hoped to bring charges soon but
also warned a final decision could take months.
Latvian
Justice Minister Ingrida Labucka and Stephen Brady, the Australian ambassador
to the Baltic states, signed the pact. Backing for it is strong. It is expected
to win approval and take effect by year's end.
Nazi hunter
Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, welcomed
the agreement but said it needs to be used without delay to bring the elderly
Kalejs to court.
"The onus is on the parties to give the
treaty practical effect," he said in a phone
interview.
Kalejs was deported from the United States and
Canada in the 1990s for lying about his Nazi past. Earlier this year, he fled
to Australia after Nazi hunters tracked him to a retirement home in
England.
Both Australia and Latvia have come under heavy
pressure to ensure that Kalejs is finally charged and extradited for trial.
Critics say both nations have acted too slowly.
|
One of the true treasures of Riga is its architecture! This picture is from October, 1994.
