Dying ‘Dr. Death’ Has Second Thoughts About Assisting Suicides
Jack Kevorkian Still Supports Movement, but Has Misgivings About His Methods
ABC News (U.S.)
May 26, 2006
By LARA SETRAKIAN and ABC News’ Law & Justice Unit
Today, on his 78th birthday, Jack Kevorkian, the man known as “Dr.
Death,” is slowly dying in prison.
And, according to his lawyer, Kevorkian seems to have second thoughts
about helping people die.
For years, Kevorkian was the center of a national debate around the
highly controversial questions surrounding physician-assisted suicide or
“mercy killing:” Do the terminally ill have the right to choose when and
how they die? Do doctors have the ability, even an obligation, to help
them die as they choose?
Now, as he sits in jail, Kevorkian may have had a change of heart — not
about his dedication to the “death with dignity” movement, but on how he
went about promoting it.
Specifically, his lawyer suggests, he questions the more than 100
suicides he said he assisted throughout the 1990s. One assisted suicide
— the death of Lou Gehrig’s disease patient Thomas Youk, which was
taped and broadcast on “60 Minutes” in 1998 — earned him a prison
sentence of 15 years to 20 years for second degree murder.
“He did what he did, and it brought it to public awareness [of
physician-assisted suicide],” said Kevorkian’s attorney, Mayer
Morganroth. “He now realizes that having performed it when it was
against the law, wasn’t the, probably, appropriate way to go about it. …
What he should have done was work towards its legalization verbally. …
Pursuing that cause, and not performing it because it still was against
the law.”
‘He Gets Depressed at Times’
These days, Kevorkian resides in Michigan’s Lakeland Correctional
Facility. Less than a week ago, Morganroth publicly stated that doctors
had told Kevorkian he had less than a year to live.
Kevorkian suffers from Hepatitis C, which he contracted during service
in Vietnam. Morganroth said Kevorkian’s liver enzyme levels were three
to four times above normal — a clear signal his liver was failing.
In light of his failing health, Kevorkian has requested a commutation of
his sentence, a pardon that would get him released from prison. Under
the conditions of his current sentence, he is not eligible for parole
until June 1, 2007, but he can apply for a commutation on medical
grounds before then.
The Michigan State Department of Corrections confirmed to ABC News that
it had received Kevorkian’s latest request on Monday and that the parole
board was currently reviewing it. Kevorkian made a separate request for
a commutation of his sentence in November 2005, but it was rejected by
the parole board one month later.
When asked to describe Kevorkian’s physical and mental state, Morganroth
said it was “not great. … He’s quite ill.”
“Certainly he does get depressed at times,” he said.
Initially, Kevorkian appealed his 1999 conviction of second degree
murder and tried to have his case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We filed in the United States Supreme Court, they refused to hear it,”
Morganroth said. “Instead, of course, they took the appeal for Anna
Nicole Smith, which sort of made me laugh. Not that I thought it was
funny, but I thought it was ludicrous.”
Lawyer: Parole Board “Unfairly Biased”
Morganroth thinks the parole board is stacked against Kevorkian, unduly
harsh in its handling of his case. The Michigan Department of
Corrections disagrees.
“That is absolutely not true. … This is very standard procedure,”
spokesman Russ Marlan said. “We get 100 to 300 requests for medical
commutations [annually]. Very few get out.”
Marlan said that the parole board recommended the release of prisoners
in dire physical condition. Its internal standard has been to recommend
the release of anyone whom doctors say has less than 12 months to live.
Morganroth said Kevorkian had met that standard. However, even if the
parole board decides Kevorkian should stay behind bars, Michigan Gov.
Jennifer Granholm could disregard that recommendation and set him free.
“The governor could still commute a sentence, even though a parole board
recommends not to,” Marlan said. “But it happens very infrequently.”
Granholm’s spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, told ABC News that governors normally
upheld parole board decisions. Granholm, Boyd said, has commuted seven
sentences during her three years in office.
“In the last 30 years, every governor has followed the recommendation of
the parole board,” Boyd said. “The only commutations approved have been
for medical.”
Stands by His Position, but Wouldn’t Do it Again
While Kevorkian stands firmly by the cause of physician-assisted
suicide, his lawyer said he would promote the movement by speaking out
or writing, not by helping out in any more suicides.
“At this point, he would never perform it again,” Morganroth said. “But
he certainly would work towards getting it legalized wherever possible.”
In a series of national polls, a majority of Americans expressed their
support for Kevorkian’s release. It’s unclear, however, whether an
outpouring of public opinion would do anything to help Kevorkian’s bid
for freedom.
Kevorkian, Morganroth said, “gets petitions, letters by the carload of
support. I get them, too. I just tell them forward them to the governor.”
ABC News’ Anne Shutkin in New York contributed to this report.
PHOTO CAPTION: Jack Kevorkian, center, said he would promote
physician-assisted suicide by speaking out or writing, not by helping
out in any more suicides, his attorney said. Kevorkian is serving a
prison sentence of 15 years to 20 years for second degree murder. (The
Associated Press)
?id08364&page=1

Libération , France
25 mai 2006
Ne jouons pas avec les mémoires!;
Génocide arménien, colonisation… les modifications des lois
existantes sont inutiles.
MANCERON Gilles; Gilles Manceron historien, [#]vice-président de la
Ligue des droits de l’homme.5#]Dernier ouvrage paru : la
Colonisation, la loi et l’histoire, avec Claude Liauzu, Syllepse,
2006.
Le texte de Jean-Pierre Azéma publié dans Libération du 10 mai, au
nom de membres de l’association Liberté pour l’histoire, apporte de
nouveaux éléments au débat sur les lois et l’histoire relancé par la
proposition de pénaliser la négation du génocide arménien. Sur
plusieurs points, il paraît témoigner d’une évolution par rapport à
l’appel paru dans Libération du 13 décembre 2005, dont semblait
émaner une demande d’abrogation globale des lois Gayssot, Taubira et
sur le génocide arménien. Lancé en plein débat sur l’article 4 de la
loi sur la colonisation du 23 février 2005, il mettait sur le même
plan des lois de nature très différente et apparaissait à la fois
comme précipité et non dénué d’arrière-pensées.
Jean-Pierre Azéma nous dit que les signataires de cet appel menaient
aussi campagne contre l’article 4 de la “loi Mekachera” sur “l’oeuvre
positive” de la colonisation, qui a été “déclassé” depuis. A notre
connaissance, seuls deux des dix-neuf signataires, Pierre
Vidal-Naquet et Marc Ferro, lui avaient exprimé leur opposition. Mais
d’autres pouvaient lui être hostiles sans avoir eu l’occasion de le
dire, ce qui semble être le cas de Jean-Pierre Azéma. Dont acte, et
félicitons-nous à l’idée que d’autres s’y opposaient aussi. Mais
certains signataires, tels René Rémond et Françoise Chandernagor, ont
dit et répété qu’ils avaient refusé de s’opposer à cet article 4 sur
“l’oeuvre positive” de la colonisation car il ne suscitait pas
davantage leur rejet que les trois autres lois mémorielles qu’étaient
les lois Gayssot, Taubira et sur le génocide arménien.
René Rémond n’a cessé de dire qu’il avait refusé de signer un texte
contre cet article car “c’eût été un choix politique” (l’Histoire, n°
306, p. 84, et Quand l’Etat se mêle de l’histoire, Stock, p. 43). Et
Françoise Chandernagor a même écrit dans l’Histoire (n° 306, p. 79)
que l’objet de l’appel “Liberté pour l’histoire” était de contrer les
efforts de ceux qui voulaient faire abroger l’article 4 de la loi sur
la colonisation et qu’il a été publié à la hte car il fallait faire
vite. Mais, au-delà de ce qui semble apparaître comme des divergences
parmi les “dix-neuf”, saluons le fait que Jean-Pierre Azéma affirme :
“Nous participions aussi à la campagne visant à obtenir l’abrogation
de l’article 4 de la loi dite Mekachera.”
Jean-Pierre Azéma s’oppose au projet de loi cherchant à pénaliser la
négation du génocide arménien. Beaucoup de ceux qui défendent la loi
du 29 janvier 2001 par laquelle la France reconnaît le génocide
arménien (à la différence de l’appel “Liberté pour l’histoire”, qui
en demandait l’abrogation) le rejoignent sur ce point. C’est la
position que j’ai défendue lors de la rencontre “Amnésie
internationale” organisée par la Jeunesse arménienne de France à
Marseille, le 11 mars : défense résolue de la loi de reconnaissance
du génocide arménien, du 29 janvier 2001, mais opposition à une
nouvelle “loi Gayssot” sur ce point. Notamment car cette question
est, malheureusement, moins bien documentée historiquement (les
obstacles opposés par la Turquie à l’accès aux archives y sont pour
beaucoup), d’où la nécessité d’un large débat. Et elle ne pose pas, à
mon sens, les mêmes problèmes spécifiques relatifs au maintien de
l’ordre public que nous impose la nécessité de réagir à cet avatar de
l’appel à la haine antisémite bimillénaire qu’est la négation de la
Shoah. Au-delà du désaccord sur la loi de reconnaissance du 29
janvier 2001, à laquelle je reste très attaché, je rejoins
Jean-Pierre Azéma sur le refus d’une nouvelle loi pénalisant la
négation du génocide arménien.
On note que Jean-Pierre Azéma s’oppose au déclassement de l’article
de la loi Taubira demandé par les députés UMP “en représailles au
déclassement de l’article 4 de la loi Mekachera”. Pourtant ces
députés UMP n’ont fait que proposer ce que demandait pour cette loi
“l’appel des dix-neuf” en décembre. Mais quelle modification
demandent les signataires ? Jean-Pierre Azéma parle non pas
d'”abrogation” de ces lois ou de certains de leurs articles, mais du
“toilettage d’articles de quatre lois mémorielles”. Pour qu’on ne
reste pas dans le vague, il faudrait nous dire quels “toilettages”
sont demandés… Pour la loi de janvier 2001, dont le texte intégral
est : “La France reconnaît publiquement le génocide arménien de
1915”, on est particulièrement intéressé à connaître ce “toilettage”.
On note aussi que Jean-Pierre Azéma écrit que l’histoire n’appartient
pas aux historiens mais qu’elle est le bien de tous. La
représentation nationale ne se voit plus interdire, semble-t-il, le
principe de lois historiques et mémorielles, comme pouvait le laisser
entendre le texte du 13 décembre. Il invoque, une fois de plus, ce
qu’avait écrit Madeleine Rebérioux : “La loi ne saurait dire le vrai.
Le concept même de vérité historique récuse l’autorité étatique.
L’expérience de l’Union soviétique devrait suffire en ce domaine.” Le
rappel de ce principe est utile, mais il ne suffit pas à fonder la
demande d’abrogation en 2006 de l’article de la loi Gayssot qui crée
un délit de négation des génocides et crimes contre l’humanité commis
par les nazis. Dans le livre collectif la Colonisation, la loi et
l’histoire, que j’ai codirigé avec Claude Liauzu, nous montrons que
les réserves de Madeleine Rebérioux à propos de la loi Gayssot et de
toute législation en matière d’histoire (exprimées dans des articles
de 1990 et de 1996 que nous reproduisons) ne permettent pas de
justifier, à notre avis, ipso facto, les positions prises plus de dix
ans plus tard par l’appel “Liberté pour l’histoire”. Madeleine nous a
quittés en février 2005, mais son successeur à la présidence de la
Ligue des droits de l’homme, Henri Leclerc, explique dans sa préface
qu’il partageait son point de vue lors de la discussion de la loi
Gayssot, et qu’il ne demande pas pour autant l’abrogation de sa
disposition créant un délit de négation de la Shoah.
Mais l’essentiel est que Jean-Pierre Azéma tend à ne plus demander
l’abrogation des dispositions essentielles des lois Gayssot, Taubira
et sur le génocide arménien, mais semble plutôt vouloir dire stop à
tout ajout de lois sur l’histoire, qu’il s’agisse de celle qui
voudrait créer un délit de négation du génocide arménien, ou de celle
qui viserait au déclassement de dispositions d’une loi existante,
comme la proposition UMP sur la loi Taubira.
Sur une telle position qui revient à dire : “Stop aux nouvelles lois
sur l’histoire, qu’elles soient des ajouts ou des retraits”, un large
consensus semble possible. Car les lois Gayssot, Taubira et sur le
génocide arménien présentent sûrement des défauts et des risques – le
mérite de l’appel est de l’avoir souligné – mais chacune a aussi
répondu à des demandes légitimes et rempli des fonctions
essentielles. Le plus sage n’est-il pas à la fois de refuser qu’on
leur en ajoute d’autres et qu’on cherche à les abolir ou à les
modifier ?

Georgian leader praises army in Independence Day speech
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
26 May 06
President Mikheil Saakashvili has praised the Georgian army during a
military parade to mark Independence Day on 26 May. Saakashvili said
that the “ramshackle, miserable” army of two years ago was now
“well-disciplined and battle-ready”. He added that Georgia’s armed
forces “threaten no-one” apart from those who “want chaos in Georgia
and an end to its independence”. “I wish to tell our Abkhaz and
Ossetian brothers and sisters that we want peace,” he added.
The following is the text of Saakashvili’s speech broadcast live by
Georgian TV station Rustavi-2:
[Saakashvili] Today we are giving a military salute to a
well-disciplined and battle-ready Georgian army. We have great
traditions, but two years ago, just over two years ago, we inherited –
the officers remember this well – a ramshackle, miserable Georgian
army. Over these past few years, together with you, we have done
everything possible to create armed forces of which you, your families
and the whole of Georgia can be proud, armed forces which threaten
no-one apart from those people who are prepared to attack freedom and
the security of its citizens, those people who want chaos in Georgia
and an end to its independence.
We salute those soldiers, officers and sergeants who received medals
today, including one of the highest honours awarded by the United
States of America, which is extremely rarely given to foreign officers
and soldiers. That is the fate and tradition of the Georgians, not
just to stand in our own country’s watchtower, but also to fight for
freedom and Georgia’s interests throughout the world. That is how it
has been for centuries and that is how it is today, because we,
Georgians, exist not just for our own sake but for the whole
freedom-loving world.
We are setting an example of successful development amidst freedom, an
example which many people fighting for freedom, independence and
success need.
In saluting our army we are saluting a new Georgia. We are saluting a
Georgia of which every Georgian should be proud, a Georgia which will
never bow down to its enemy, a Georgia which can defend itself and its
national interests.
With our military salute we hail each one of our citizens,
irrespective of ethnic origin, because Georgia belongs to each of
them. People of various nations have lived in Georgia for centuries
and millennia – Jews, Ossetians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Greeks,
Russians, Ukrainians, Kurds and others. All of them are Georgian
patriots in the service of Georgia.
We salute all those who care about Georgia’s fate, whose purpose in
life is to fight for Georgia’s success. Georgia’s citizens have shown
everyone that they are capable of building a state which is developed,
civilized and befits them.
It is thanks to each of you that today Georgia is known throughout the
world as one of the most quickly developing democratic states, which
constantly fights to defend its interests and freedom.
Today we also salute all Georgia’s young people, including members of
the patriot movement, students and school pupils. We salute all of the
patriotic political forces. Naturally, we can argue until we are
hoarse, but we must remember one thing. Regardless of the length of
the argument and the difference of opinion, we are not each other’s
enemies. We are each other’s opponents. We are opponents who should
be capable of uniting in the face of the big challenges which exist
today and which pose a threat to Georgia, its freedom, its
independence and its future.
We should not repeat the same mistake we have been making over the
centuries when petty political infighting, envy and bitterness led us
to hand our opponents our main assets, our country and our future. No
Georgian politician should ever allow this to happen again.
Today we salute all of Georgia’s friends. Georgia is returning to the
European family where it belongs.
We give a military salute to all freedom-loving peoples and
nations. The time will soon come when the Abkhaz and Ossetians will
again be celebrating this day just as all Georgian citizens are
celebrating today. I wish to tell our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers and
sisters that we want peace and we want us to build our small but
beautiful and strong country together.
The achievements we have made would have been more valuable if the
Abkhaz and Ossetians had all taken part in this process. The time of
destruction and confrontation in Georgia is over. It would be best if
we continued with construction together and, after a certain time, we
all lived in a single state happily, well and safely.
To the people who want to dismember Georgia, I want to say that
Georgia no longer has any land to give away. Georgia is no longer able
to cede even an inch of its territory. It is a small country but it is
beautiful and we proud of it and we are not going to agree to any
compromises that concern our territorial integrity.
I would also like to salute all teachers and scientists. They are
intellectual pool, which is well known in the world. Education is our
main priority.
What we are doing today will produce results in three, five, fifty or
a hundred years later. We should all continue doing this. We cannot
afford to squander talent. We cannot afford to lose scientists or
teachers. They should all be used in the construction of a new
Georgia.
We salute our citizens who live in the countryside. The fact that the
Georgian nation has survived and we have reached where we are today is
thanks to our countryside being Georgia’s backbone. The people who
live in Georgia’s rural areas have provided for our country and saved
it from death by starvation and saved it from destruction. Their work
is particularly valuable and we see this as a special priority.
I wish to greet our wine growers and tell them not to fear
anything. No-one will be able to destroy this industry in Georgia. On
the contrary, it will develop even faster. I wish to salute other
agricultural workers. We are starting a large-scale programme of
irrigation canal restoration and school and out-patient clinic
construction. This is not just a promise. This is reality because
these facilities have already been built in hundreds of villages. In
the future 10 or 15 times as much should be done.
We give a military salute to our soldiers, soldiers who are proud to
serve their motherland, soldiers who have the blood of the heroes of
our history flowing in their veins, our real men who have today
emerged as symbols of Georgia’s future and strength.
We give a military salute to all Georgian heroes who throughout
history have given their lives to Georgia’s independence. We are
indeed a small country but we have many heroes.
We salute all generations of Georgians. We give a military salute to
Georgians living abroad. We salute hundreds of representatives of the
Georgian diaspora abroad who have been visiting Georgia recently. I
would like to say that we are proud of your successes. A Georgian
person or a person of any other ethnic origin who leaves Georgia is
especially talented and especially successful in other countries, but
our task if to bring you back to us, our task is to use your potential
for Georgia’s benefit, to build our common future.
We salute people of every generation, we salute our pensioners,
because an appreciation of kindness, a feeling of justice,
battle-capability, integrity and decency, have been handed to us by
our elders and we should pass them on to our future generations.
Two years ago, during the revolution, we were gathered together on
this spot [in front of parliament] by our hope of building a strong
Georgia. Today the situation has changed. Today we brought together by
the strength that we have already found and those great aims will soon
be achieved, strengthening and uniting the country.
May God product our homeland, Georgia, and each and every one of you.
Congratulations on Georgia’s Independence Day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian aide denies ex-speaker’s statement about pressure on party
Arminfo
25 May 06
Yerevan, 25 May: The statement by the leader of the Orinats Yerkir
Party [Law-Governed Country Party], Artur Bagdasaryan, that Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan or officials from the president’s
administration pressurized his party’s businessmen members into
leaving the party is wide of the mark, the presidential spokesman,
Viktor Sogomonyan, told Arminfo while commenting on Bagdasaryan’s
statement on Shant TV yesterday.
“Neither the president nor anyone else from the presidential
administration has ever discussed with those businessmen MPs any issue
connected with resignations from the Orinats Yerkir Party,” Sogomonyan
said.
As for the reasons behind Bagdasaryan’s statement, the presidential
spokesman thinks that it could be due to his wish to lay the blame for
the split in the party on others instead of looking for it inside the
party.
“Anyway, I think that one should leave with credit,” Sogomonyan said.

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Contact: Lerna Kayserian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
Armenian Independence Day Festival in Little Armenia Sets Stage for
Dynamic Celebration

– Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa, diverse entertainment and vendors
all a part of unprecedented ‘block party’

Hollywood, CA – The Armenian Cultural Foundation has joined forces
with the Armenian Youth Federation – Western Region (AYF-WR), in
coordination with Los Angeles Council President Eric Garcetti, to
present a dynamic festival in the heart of Little Armenia on Sunday,
May 28, 2006.
Though the festival is an annual event for the AYF-WR in celebrating
Armenia’s first independence, this year’s celebration is unprecedented
because portions of Hollywood Boulevard (between Vermont and
Alexandria) will be blocked-off just for the event. The festival is
the result of extensive teamwork between Council President Garcetti’s
office, the ACF, and AYF, and will include special visits by
representatives of the Armenian Consulate in LA, and Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa.
A variety of vendors, diverse entertainers, performers, writers and
organizations will be on hand from 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to feature
Armenian culture and raise awareness of Armenian history. Traditional
Armenian food and artifacts will also be a part of the festivities,
all in the tradition of celebrating Armenia’s cultural wealth.

“The Armenian Youth Federation celebrates and recognizes the
importance of our nation’s victories in establishing, after 600 years
of oppression, the first independent republic of Armenia on May 28,
1918, which set the foundation to today’s independent republic,”
explains AYF-WR Chairman Tro Tchekidjian.

Entertainment at the festival will include performances by Element
Band, Vokee, Sako, Ara Sahagian, Karnig Sarkissian, Nersik Ispirian,
Paul Baghdadlian, Gor Mkhitarian, Ara Shahbazian, and many
more. Various dance groups are also scheduled to perform traditional
and contemporary interpretations of Armenian folk dances throughout
the day.

Organizations participating in the festival include the Armenian
Relief Society, Shant Student Association, Homenetmen (Armenian
General Athletic Union and Scouts), and the Armenian National
Committee of America.

For more information on the festival, please contact the AYF Western
Region office at (818) 507-1933 or visit The Event is
open to the public and admission is free.

RESIGNATIONS OF OYK MEMBER CHAIRMEN OF TWO NA STANDING COMMITTEES
CONSIDERED ACCEPTED ON MAY 25

YEREVAN, MAY 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The posts of the
Chairmen of the NA Standing Committees on Defence, National Security
and Internal Affairs and Social, Health Care, Nature Protection
Affairs are already vacant starting from May 25. At the same day
sitting of the Parliament, NA Deputy Speaker Tigran Torosian informed
that Mher Shahgeldian and Gagik Mkheyan, members of the “Orinats
Yerkir” (Country of Law) faction having occupied before the
above-mentioned posts, did not take back the written applications on
resignations presented 3 years ago, so the resignations are considered
accepted. According to T.Torosian, NA Speaker Artur Baghdasarian’s
resignation will be considered accepted if he again presents
applications after the 5-days term of his written application is
over. The above-mentioned deadline is on coming Monday, May 29, at
12:30. To recap, A.Baghdasarian’s press conference is scheduled for
13:30 of the same day, at the NA “golden hall.” Names of candidades
nominated for the vacant NA leading posts have not been announced
yet. The ruling coalition promised to define the candidates’ issue
only after officially stating the above-mentioned posts as
vacant. According to the NA regulations-law, the votion in those posts
will be implemented by a secret votion.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
========================================== ======
24 May 2006
BELARUS: CASE AGAINST MINSK CHURCH STALLED
_id=788
The court case brought by Belarusian authorities to force the sale of the
charismatic New Life church’s worship building – a disused cowshed – has
been halted, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Judge Aleksandr Karamyshev
“promised to investigate our situation after he saw that the city
authorities’ arguments just don’t stand up,” New Life church administrator
Vasily Yurevich told Forum 18. “We feel that people’s prayers are making a
difference – we have reached a turning-point.” During the court hearing,
Aleksei Vaga of Minsk’s Architecture Committee insisted under oath that
city religious affairs officials have no influence over his committee. But
in a letter which Forum 18 has a copy of, the Architecture Committee
withdraws permission for the church to change the designated usage of its
building, “taking into account a 24 November 2003 written conclusion from
the Religious Affairs Department.” In a separate development, New Life is
also “very pleased” about the acceptance of their appeal against a refusal
to review a decision upholding curtailment of the church’s land rights. No
date has yet been set for this hearing.
26 May 2006
BELARUS: “DIVINE FREEDOM IS GIVEN BY GOD, BUT STATE FREEDOM YOU HAVE TO
PAY FOR”
=789
In what seems to be an increasing trend, a Belarusian Pentecostal pastor
has been fined for leading worship without state sanction. “Divine freedom
is given to us by God,” Pastor Ilya Radkevich remarked to Forum 18 News
Service, “but state freedom you have to pay for.” Natalya Lutsenko, head
of the administrative commission which fined Pastor Radkevich, totally
refused to say why an individual had been punished for holding a peaceful
religious service. Radkevich’s fine is the latest to be imposed on some
Baptist, Pentecostal and independent Orthodox groups, under a legal
provision punishing violation of legislation on religion or the foundation
and leadership of an unregistered religious congregation. The 2002 Religion
Law bans unregistered religious activity, thus violating Belarus’
international human rights commitments. A regional assistant bishop of a
separate registered Pentecostal Union has told Forum 18 that the number of
fines for worship by groups in private homes – which is illegal without
state sanction even for registered communities – would be much greater if
such worship did not take place discreetly.
23 May 2006
SERBIA: NO CHANGES TO CONTROVERSIAL RELIGION LAW
785
Despite Serbian President Boris Tadic requesting amendments to the new
Religion Law as it breaks the European Convention on Human Rights, and
strong criticism from the OSCE and Council of Europe, the Religion
Ministry “is not preparing any amendments and no-one has sent any
amendments to the Ministry,” it told Forum 18 News Service. Religion
Minister Milan Radulovic refused to comment on either the President’s
request, or the strong criticism of the Law. Sonja Biserko of the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights told Forum 18 that “I believe that the pressure
of international organisations – including the OSCE, the Council of Europe
and the US Congress – is needed.” Vidan Hadzi-Vidanovic of the Belgrade
Centre for Human Rights states that they will challenge the Law in the
Constitutional Court. But, “we will need help to ensure that an appeal to
the Constitutional Court does not end up in some file,” Zarko Djordjevic
of the Serbian Baptist Union told Forum 18.
23 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: DEMOLITION OF PLACES OF WORSHIP CONTINUES
le_id=786
In large-scale demolition projects in Turkmenistan, those expelled from
their home get no compensation and often nowhere to live. Amongst the
buildings demolished are religious communities’ places of worship. The
last surviving pre-revolutionary Armenian Apostolic church and a
family-owned Sunni mosque in the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi have been
destroyed, Forum 18 News Service has been told. Exiled human rights
activist Vyacheslav Mamedov told Forum 18 that the mosque “was used on
Muslim festivals and for family events like weddings, funerals and sadakas
[commemorations of the dead].” The former Armenian church “was a very
beautiful building,” Mamedov recalled. He told Forum 18 that there is
widespread anger and fear over the destruction of the town’s historic
centre. Amongst places of worship in Turkmenistan, known to Forum 18 to
have been demolished in the past, are mosques, an Adventist church, and a
Hare Krishna temple.
24 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: “WHAT WILL REGISTRATION GIVE US?”
=787
Despite making several registration applications, the Armenian Apostolic
Church community in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabad has still not been
given state registration, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Some religious
communities have considered registration – including Protestants, Catholics
and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – but have not yet applied. Protestant
congregations are sceptical about their chances of gaining registration.
Forum 18 has been told that during interrogations of ethnic Turkmen
Protestants, they are told to report everything that happens in their
churches to the authorities. “You have to do this if you’re registered,”
they are told. A Catholic parish has not applied for registration, as they
are not allowed to have a foreign priest leading the parish. Jehovah’s
Witnesses told Forum 18 that “there’s still the very important question:
what will registration give us? Others have got registration and it hasn’t
helped them.”
* See full article below. *
24 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: “WHAT WILL REGISTRATION GIVE US?”
d=787
By Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service <; Back in February, the Armenian Apostolic Church community in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] lodged an application for state registration. "Although three months have gone by the Justice Ministry has made no response," an Armenian who preferred not to be identified told Forum 18 News Service from Ashgabad on 22 May. "This is the third or fourth application the community has lodged." No-one at the Registration Department of the Adalat (Fairness or Justice) Ministry was available to explain to Forum 18 why the application by Ashgabad's Armenian community has not been processed. Reached on 22 May, Maysa Sariyeva, who is head of the International Legal Affairs and Registration of Public and Religious Organisations Department, put the phone down as soon as Forum 18 explained who was calling. Subsequent calls went unanswered. Also not answering his telephone on 22 and 23 May was Serdar Valiev, who reports to Sariyeva and has responsibility for registering religious communities. The Armenian ambassador, Aram Grigoryan, was out of the country on 22 May and no-one at the Embassy was able to comment on the stalled registration application from the Ashgabad Armenian community. Nor was anyone available for comment at the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan on 22 May, or at the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin near the Armenian capital. The registration application was lodged exactly one year after the authorities destroyed the last surviving pre-revolutionary Armenian Apostolic church in the country, in the Caspian port town of Turkmenbashi [Türkmenbashy, formerly Krasnovodsk], on the orders of President Saparmurat Niyazov. The authorities had previously refused to hand it back to the local Armenian community for worship (see F18News 23 May 2006 < e_id=786>).
In the absence of any Armenian Apostolic church in Turkmenistan, Armenian
Christians who wished to worship have had to attend Russian Orthodox
churches (although the Armenian Church is of the Oriental, not the
Orthodox family of Churches). An estimated one sixth of parishioners at
Turkmenistan’s Russian Orthodox churches are ethnic Armenians.
Meanwhile, other religious communities which have been considering lodging
registration applications – including Protestant Christians, the Catholic
parish in Ashgabad and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – have not yet done so.
Forum 18 has learnt that several Protestant congregations are preparing
registration applications, but many are sceptical that the Adalat Ministry
will grant it. “All the churches wanting to get registration are made up of
ethnic Turkmens and it is not so easy,” one Protestant told Forum 18 on 22
May. “The authorities don’t like this.” The Protestant said that the
Protestant congregations the Adalat Ministry was forced to register under
international pressure from 2004 – including the Adventists, Baptists,
Pentecostals, Greater Grace, Light of the East and the Church of Christ –
were all made up of ethnic Russians. “When the persecution was at its
worst five or six years ago, ethnic Russian churches suffered, but Turkmen
believers suffered the worst.”
Even today, the Protestant added, every time officials interrogate any
ethnic Turkmen Protestants they tell them they should report everything
that happens in their churches to the authorities. “You have to do this if
you’re registered.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses remain cautious. “Nothing has moved on the
registration issue,” one Jehovah’s Witness told Forum 18 on 22 May. “The
authorities show no real desire to register us. There’s still the very
important question: what will registration give us? Others have got
registration and it hasn’t helped them.” Contacts in 2005 with the Adalat
Ministry were “not very encouraging”, the source added. However, the
Jehovah’s Witnesses have not ruled out trying to get registration and are
still working on preparing the necessary documentation.
Ashgabad’s Catholic parish has not yet applied for registration, as it
remains unhappy with the terms of the Religion Law and has not been able
to meet Adalat Ministry officials to discuss the wording of the statute.
“We want to explain to the Ministry the absolute impossibility for the
parish to be led by a local citizen,” one Catholic familiar with the
process told Forum 18 on 23 May. “The authorities have to allow us to
build up a community and only with time will there perhaps be a local
priest who could lead the community. We want to discuss this point with
the Ministry and we hope they’ll understand it.”
The Catholic said the community is grateful that the Turkmen authorities
have allowed two Polish priests to serve the community. Mass is currently
held on Vatican diplomatic territory in the Nunciature in Ashgabad.
Eventually the Catholics would like to build a church to replace the one
destroyed by an earthquake in Soviet times. “But the church is the
community, not the building,” the Catholic stressed to Forum 18.
Other religious communities registered since May 2004 are the Baha’is, the
Hare Krishna community and the New Apostolic Church. Already registered
were about a hundred Sunni Muslim mosques. Shia Muslim mosques are
unofficially barred from registering. Most of the country’s 12 Russian
Orthodox churches were finally re-registered in November 2005, though the
Dashoguz [Dashhowuz] parish was stripped of registration in 2003 and has
been unable to regain it. The parish has also been prevented from
completing building work on its church (see F18News 3 April 2006
< e_id=754>).
Conditions that have been imposed on registered communities are highly
restrictive, including bans on meeting for worship, including in private
homes, and on printing and importing religious literature (see F18News 28
February 2005 < 521>), tight
financial restrictions and a ban on foreign citizens leading religious
communities (see F18News 13 May 2004
< e_id=320>). Many religious
believers in Turkmenistan strongly object to these conditions, describing
religious freedom in the country as “fictitious” (see F18News 16 February
2006 < 728>).
Among the problems communities have experienced since registering are that
nationally registered communities have had their regional communities’
registration denied by officials in police raids (see F18News 19 December
2005 < 707>); and unwritten
extra-legal obstacles have been placed in the way of unregistered
communities registering, or registered communities meeting (see F18 News 9
December 2005 < 702>).
Registered congregations are also pressured to subscribe to the cult of
personality around President Niyazov, and the Ruhnama, his alleged
“spiritual writings” (see F18News 1 March 2005
< e_id=522>).
Unregistered religious activity remains illegal (see F18Nerws 24 May 2004
< e_id=326>).
Although extreme harassment of religious communities has eased off
recently, official intimidation still occurs. This was described to Forum
18 by one Protestant as officials “inciting interreligious hatred” (see
eg. F18News 19 January 2006
< e_id=717>).
Among recent incidents, two teachers of the Koran in the village of Kongur
near the south-eastern town of Mary were summoned by the Ministry of State
Security (MSS) secret police early in the year and banned from teaching
the Koran, Jumadurdy Ovezov, a correspondent for Radio Free Europe’s
Turkmen Service told Forum 18 from Mary on 15 May.
Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that in March, one of their members was
detained in Ashgabad while he was on his way to visit a fellow-believer. A
police officer hit him on the head several times, forced him to get into a
car and took him to the police station. There he was interrogated and had
his Bible and other religious books confiscated, but was released later
that day. In April, two female Jehovah’s Witnesses were coming out of a
block of flats in Turkmenbashi when they were detained by police. They
were taken by car to the local police station where they were searched and
interrogated. “Officers used the usual crude words during the
interrogation,” one Jehovah’s Witness told Forum 18. The two were forced
to write statements before being freed.
Protestants have complained that some are still being prevented from
travelling abroad for religious purposes, including a group who had visas
but were not handed their pre-paid tickets ahead of their planned
departure from Ashgabad airport in April. “We don’t know why this
happened,” one Protestant told Forum 18. “The travel company and all the
other people at the airport kept putting the blame on each other.”
Hare Krishna devotee Cheper Annaniyazova is still in jail, on a seven year
jail term believed within Turkmenistan to have been inspired by the MSS
secret police to intimidate the Hare Krishna community (see F18News 3
April 2006 < 754>). (END)
For a personal commentary by a Protestant within Turkmenistan, on the
fiction – despite government claims – of religious freedom in the country,
and how religious communities and the international community should
respond to this, see < 728>
For more background, see Forum 18’s Turkmenistan religious freedom survey
at < 672>
A printer-friendly map of Turkmenistan is available at
< s/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=turkme& gt; (END) © Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855 You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to F18News Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

A320 BLACK BOXES SENT TO MOSCOW
Kommersant, Russia
May 25 2006
The second black box of the A320 jet that crashed on May 2 outside
Sochi was retrieved in the Black Sea yesterday. Experts of the
Interstate Aviation Committee are to start deciphering the data of the
recorders soon. However, the head of the committee, Tatyana Anodina
doubted that the data in the black boxes were kept intact.
Igor Levitin, Russian transportation minister and head of the committee
investigating the crash, Tatyana Anodina, head of the Interstate
Aviation Committee, and Armenian Ambassador to Russian Armen Sumbatian
went to Sochi yesterday to meet members of the search expedition. The
operation to retrieve the two flight recorders of the A320 lasted 20
days but finished with a success, as Igor Levitin said. The audio
recorder was found and retrieved on Monday. The parameter recorder
was located on Tuesday night and lifted from the Black Sea on early
Wednesday morning. The operation was complicated as the black boxes
were covered with a thick layer of sediments and experts first doubted
that they would manage to locate and hoist the recorders.
Chairperson of the Interstate Aviation Committee Tatyana Anodina
told the press that the audio recorder will be deciphered in Moscow,
contrary to earlier reports that the black boxes will be sent to
Airbus’ specialists in France. Ms. Anodina remarked that there are
chances that the data in the boxes was lost. “The parameter recorder
is intact, but the audio recorder may be in a bad state. The magnetic
film was damaged by the aggressive sea medium and mechanical effects,”
she said.
Experts hope to discover the cause of the crash with the help of the
data in the recorder. A participant of the operation supposed that
the plane probably crashed following the loss of aerodynamic qualities.

EXTREMIST GANG IN RUSSIA DISMANTLED
New York Times
Indianapolis Star,IN
May 25 2006
Officials say arrests bring end to group accused of a series of
racially motivated killings
MOSCOW — The authorities in St. Petersburg announced Wednesday that
they had broken up an extremist group that had shocked Russia with a
string of racially motivated killings, including that of an African
student in April and of an expert on hate crimes nearly two years ago.
The authorities said they had recently arrested five members of the
loosely organized group. Two others appeared to have been arrested
earlier on separate charges, while an eighth was fatally shot as police
tried to arrest him May 18. The police seized weapons, explosives
and neo-Nazi literature in raids of the gang members’ apartments,
the authorities said.
Though charges have not been filed, the case amounted to a rare
judicial success in Russia’s fight against a deadly wave of racism
that has resulted in at least 48 killings across Russia in the past
18 months.
St. Petersburg’s prosecutor, Sergei P. Zaitsev, said the seven
young men in custody were members of a small extremist group with no
known name.
The group’s members are accused of killing Lamzar Samba, a 28-year-old
student from Senegal, who was shot in the neck as he left a nightclub
April 7.
Zaitsev accused the group of killing an Armenian and a Korean, as
well as two of its own members. He said the group was also involved
in the killing of Nikolai M. Girenko, a Russian anthropologist who
became an expert on neo-Nazis, skinheads and other extremist movements.

LITHUANIAN-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS COULD AND SHOULD BE MORE INTENSIVE – LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 25 2006
Trend’s exclusive interview with the Lithuanian President, Valdas
Adamkus, on the eve of his forthcoming visit to Baku on 8-9 June 2006.
Question: How do you estimate the current level and perspectives of
bilateral relationships between Azerbaijan and Lithuania?
Answer: I may evaluate Lithuanian-Azerbaijani relations as friendly,
based of sympathy from the past and on the common future goals –
to live in prospering and safe Europe.
These relations could and should be more intensive – especially in
economical sphere. We receive the signals from our businessmen about
their interest in developing trade relations with Azerbaijan and
I hope that the foreseen visit to Baku this April will serve as an
impulse for the intensification of such cooperation. I am going to
have a group of businessmen accompanying me.
Azerbaijan – is and should be safe and stable transit country between
Europe and South Caucasus region.
I also see open possibilities for fostering our cultural relations,
renewing people-to-people contacts, encouraging flows of tourists
between Lithuania and Azerbaijan.
Lithuania’s, as a new member’s, integration experience is still “fresh”
and we are ready to share it upon the interest of your country. We
have gained a lot from the regional cooperation in this regard, we
suggest basing such a sharing of experience on a regional level –
this is the core of 3+3 initiative (cooperation between three Baltic
and three South Caucasus countries), which implementation depends on
common efforts.
Question: Have you defined the exact date of your official visit to
Azerbaijan? What issues will be on focus of discussions during the
forthcoming visit?
Answer: I think the agenda of this visit should reflect all major
issues of common interest – bilateral cooperation and possibilities
to develop it in particular fields, EU and NATO integration, energy
security, business development. As well, a very important subject of
discussions should be regional issues and Baltic-Black-Caspian sea
regions cooperation.
Question: What aid can Lithuania render to Azerbaijan in its
integration into the international establishments?
Answer: Lithuania welcomes Azerbaijan’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We
are ready to share with you all the lessons learned in our way towards
NATO. We already have good traditions of cooperation as Lithuania
and Azerbaijan have been cooperating bilaterally for several years
in various fields of defence. Our experiences in restructuring
security and defense sectors, establishing legal basis and setting
coordination mechanisms for Euro-Atlantic integration might be of
particular interest of your country in the current implementation of
Azerbaijan-NATO IPAP (Individual Partnership Action Plan).
Question: In what stage is the realization of your initiative on
regional cooperation 3+3 (three Baltic countries and three South
Caucasus countries)?
Answer: Having learned from our own experience, how advantageous is
regional cooperation in reaching strategic goals, we are willing to
encourage regional approach in South Caucasus as well. Therefore 3+3
initiative is an essential part of these efforts, as it could provide
opportunity to share Baltics’ experience with the South Caucasus
countries and promote links between them.
As I know the first informal meeting of five Ministers of Foreign
Affairs and Azerbaijani representative, held last December in Liubjana,
was considered as successful step into the implementation of this
initiative, the participants have agreed on the continuation of such
meetings. Let’s work together.
Question: Does Lithuania support the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan? How do you view the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh?
Answer: Lithuania has also suffered complicated historical situations
in relations with the neighbouring countries, though since the
independence our aim is not forgetting the past, to work for the
future and to strengthen friendly cooperation with neighbours –
as it is an inevitable precondition of the wealth of whole region.
The territorial integrity of each country should be respected. We stand
for resolution of any related disputes only in a peaceful manner and
truly hope that such peaceful breakthrough will be reached in your
region in the shortest run.