Valley Sun, CA
July 8 2004
Aviani Burglary Suspects in Jail
By Jake Armstrong

Three men suspected of burglarizing a La Cañada Flintridge jewelry
store are in jail as authorities search for a Glendale businessman
suspected of leading an alleged jewelry-store theft ring believed to
have taken millions of dollars worth of jewelry in recent months,
authorities said.
Almost a month after a May 12 burglary at La Cañada’s Aviani
Jewelers, at 2147 Foothill Blvd., detectives from the Sheriff’s and
Los Angeles Police departments tracked leads to an undisclosed
location in Van Nuys where a surveillance operation resulted in the
arrests of six men, Sheriff’s Detective Richard Lutz said. Three of
those men – Armen Tagvoryan, Arsak Grigoryan and Ashot Avoyan – are
suspected of entering through the roof of the La Cañada jewelry store
and removing a safe laden with $400,000 in jewelry. That safe was
recovered when the store’s owner, arriving for work, flagged down a
passing deputy when he noticed the safe being carted away from his
business on the back of a tow truck.
Further investigation identified 46-year-old Ara Karapetian, owner of
Mirage Clothing and Armenia Express Money Transfer in Glendale, as
the suspected leader of an alleged crime ring that has stolen $5
million in jewels from jewelry stores. The alleged ring is suspected
of burglaries at 30 stores, said Sheriff’s Capt. Tim Peters of the
Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station. The alleged theft ring,
consisting largely of Russian-Armenians, had been targeting jewelry
stores owned by Lebanese-Armenians, Lutz said.
A $2 million warrant has been issued for Karapetian’s arrest, Lutz
said. Several search warrants have been served on Karapetian’s home
and businesses, Lutz said, adding that the suspect refuses to turn
himself in.
Tagvoryan, 23, and Grigoryan, 36, are being held without bail and
were to appear in Los Angeles Municipal Court Wednesday. Avoyan, 42,
is being held without bail at North County Correctional Facility and
is to appear Monday in Los Angeles Municipal Court. All three
suspects face burglary charges.
Authorities believe the suspects entered the La Cañada store through
the roof sometime after 5:30 p.m. May 11, and allegedly stole $7,000
worth of jewelry from the store’s display cases before carting the
safe out the front door.

Had Avedis Babayan gotten tangled in traffic on his way to Aviani
Jewelers, he might not have seen the tow truck leaving the jewelry
store’s parking lot with his safe.
In an interview Tuesday, Babayan said he recognized a logo painted on
the side of the safe and began to follow the tow truck, which was
pulling away from the jewelry store. Babayan said he stopped his car
in front of the tow truck, got out of his car and flagged down a
passing deputy.
“That was it,” he said. “The whole sheriff’s department was on top of
it. That makes me feel good.”
Babayan said he has lost $20,000 in sales since the burglary, but is
relieved by the arrests of the suspects. He commended the
investigators’ efforts.
“It is a relief. The damage has stopped,” he said. “Recovery is
secondary.”

Channel News Asia, Singapore from Agence France Presse
July 8 2004
Pakistan’s Musharraf forges mutual support pact with Azerbaijan

BAKU : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, on the first day of his
state visit to the Muslim former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, said
that the two countries had agreed to work together on issues
including the Kashmir dispute, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
“The unique character of our political relations is that we always
understand each other and support each other,” Musharraf told a press
conference after talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
“That finds expression in the Kashmir…problem,” he added. “In
international questions our positions are also close and on issues of
the Islamic world, like the Palestine question, questions of Iraq and
Afghanistan, we have agreed to coordinate our actions in future.”
Musharraf is due to address the Azeri parliament Friday and fly home
the following day.
Security surrounding the visit was tight. An army general who came to
power in a bloodless coup five years ago, Musharraf has been the
target of assassination attempts at home.
A tiny state of eight million people bordering Iran and Russia,
Azerbaijan has in recent years emerged as a steadfast ally to
Pakistan.
The two countries are united by a common fight against their
non-Muslim neighbours: Pakistan in its conflict with India over
Kashmir and Azerbaijan in a 15-year-old dispute with Armenia over the
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
They are also members of the exclusive club of Muslim states which
have sided with the United States in its fight against international
terrorism, offering logistical and military support to US-led
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Musharraf reciprocated Azerbaijan’s backing for Pakistan over Kashmir
by saying that his country backed Baku’s efforts to regain control
over Karabakh, which is under Armenian control.
“The occupation of Azerbaijan’s regions worries Pakistan and in this
question we will constantly support Azerbaijan,” said the 60-year-old
Pakistani leader.
After talks between the Pakistani and Azeri heads of state, the two
men and their officials signed a series of agreements covering the
tourism trade, customs and combatting the drugs trade and
international terrorism.
Musharraf said his country was also interested in tapping into
Azerbaijan’s oil industry expertise — the country is rich in crude
and has been extracting oil for nearly a century — to help Pakistan
exploit its own energy resources.
“Azerbaijan has great experience,” Musharraf told reporters. “We want
to use that experience, create joint ventures and work together with
Azerbaijan.”
Relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan were first forged by
Musharraf’s predecessor Nawaz Sharif when he visited the Azeri
capital in 1995.
The late Azeri head of state Heidar Aliyev — the father of the
current president — made a return visit to Islamabad the following
year.
The two sides concluded a military pact last year. Details are
sketchy, though it is known that Azeri officers are training in
military academies in Pakistan. Islamabad has also offered to sell
its military technology to Azerbaijan.
The Pakistani leader’s schedule for Friday includes a walkabout in
the capital and attending a concert in his honour at the State
Philharmonic Hall.
Deputies in Azerbaijan’s parliament, or Milli Majlis, have been
called back from their summer vacation for a special session Friday
morning at which Musharraf will address them.

GIBRAHAYER
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CYPRUS WELCOMES THE OLYMPIC FLAME
Archbishop Hergelian and the Armenian community of Nicosia greet the flame
as it crosses Armenia Avenue at 5:30 p.m.
July 8, 2004 (CNA/Gibrahayer) – The Olympic Torch has arrived in Cyprus,
final stop in its long journey back to Athens.
The plane ”Zeus”, carrying the Olympic Tor ch landed at Paphos
International airport at 8:30 a.m. where it received a red carpet welcome,
normally accorded to heads of state. It was then placed on a sailing boat
just outside Paphos International Airport and arrived at Paphos Harbour an
hour later where the official celebrations began.
The Torch then followed a route covering literally all government controlled
areas of Cyprus, through many communities and past many of the island’s
great landmarks and locations, before arriving at its final destination in
the centre of Nicosia.
The Torch arrived in Nicosia at 4:45 p.m. and headed west on Armenia Avenue
an hour later where hundreds were waiting to get a glimpse of it.
Archbishop Hergelian greeted the Torch at the entrance of the Armenian
Prelature where many Armenian Cypriot residents of Armenia Avenue had
gathered.
The gathered crowds chanted and app lauded the Olympic Torch Relay
entourage.
Ceremonies continued on Thursday night at the Presidential Palace and at
D’Avila Moat. The relay continued its journey into Larnaca on Friday.
80-1 OUTSIDERS GREECE WIN EURO 2004
Nicosia July 7: (Gibrahayer) – 80-1 outsiders Greece, won the Euro 2004
Football tournament in style, sending an entire nation into an extended
state of delirium.
They knocked out host nations Portugal twice, once in the opening game and
once in the final. They ousted European and world champions France in the
quarters, broke the winning streak of the Czechs in the semi-finals and
completed their Hudini act last Sunday against Portugal by 1-0.
The celebrations across Greece, Cyprus and the entire diaspora are still
going on and the world remains dumbfounded in front of the
near-to-impossible achievement.
On Monday the new European Champions were welcomed by more than three
million Athenians who took the streets to see their new Gods. In the
celebrations that followed at the Panathinaikos Stadium, the champions and
their coach Otto Rehhagel were decorated by the Mayor of Athens, the
Ministry of Sports and the Greek Orthodox Church of Greece.
KURDS REARM AND INFILTRATE TURKEY FROM IRAQ
04/07/2004Â AFP ANKARA – Turkish Kurd rebels hiding in northern Iraq are
rearming and1,500 of them have crossed into Turkey to engage in violence,
CNN-Turk television said Sunday, citing an intelligence report.
According to the report, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), known
also as KONGRA-GEL, had purchased weapons worth 1.7 million dollars from
unknown sources in Iraq, Iran and Armenia in the past year and had
intensified military training for members in camps in northern Iraq,
CNN-Turk said on its web site.
The increased activity was thought to be a preparation for a possible
military operation against the group by Turkey or the United States, both of
whom view the PKK as a “terrorist” organization.
Ankara has repeatedly urged Washington to take action against PKK rebels in
neighboring northern Iraq since last October, when the two countries agreed
on an action plan, including military measures, against the PKK.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated the call during talks
with US President George W. Bush in Ankara last week.
The Turkish authorities estimate that about 5,000 PKK militants have taken
refuge in northern Iraq since 1999, when the group announced a unilateral
truce with the government following a call for peace by its jailed leader,
Abdullah Ocalan.
The rebels ended the ceasefire on June 1 this year.
CNN-Turk quoted the intelligence report as saying that 1,500 armed militants
had infiltrated Turkey in the past six months.
The PKK has been blamed for a recent series of deadly attacks on Turkish
security forces in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, bordering northern Iraq,
including the mining of roads.
On July 2, officials accused the group of carrying out a car bomb attack on
a convoy carrying the governor of Van province, which killed three people
and wounded 25 others.
The PKK waged a bloody 15-year campaign for self-rule in Turkey’s
predominantly Kurdish southeast between 1984 and 1999. The conflict has
claimed some 37,000 lives.
The southeast enjoyed relative calm during the ceasefire period and Ankara
improved the cultural rights of the Kurdish minority in a bid to boost
Turkey’s chances of being allowed to join the European Union.
CYPRUS AND ARMENIA SIGN HEALTH AND MEDICINE COOPERATION AGREEMENT
Nicosia, Jul 5 (CNA) — Cyprus and Armenia signed today an interstate
cooperation agreement in the fields of health and medicine. Cyprus Minister
of Health Constantina Akkelidou and Armenia’s Ambassador to Cyprus Vahram
Kazhoyan signed the agreement.
NOURITSA MATOSSIAN PRESENTS GORKY SHOW IN TURKEY
Cypriot writer Nouritza Matossian, writer of the life of Arshile Gorky
presented her one-woman show in Bolis. which received excellent comments
from the local and Armenian (Agos) press during her visit where she gave a
lecture and did excerpts from show. Enclosed her interview in the local
press in Turkish.
Araþtýrmacý yazar Nouritsa Matossian, geçmiþteki köklerin sanatçýlarý
yakýndan etkilediðini düþünüyor ve VanlýManug’un izini sürüyor
Arshile Gorky’nin gizemi
Kýsa bir tatil için Ã=9Dstanbul’a gelen – Amerikan sürrealizminin tetikçisi
Ermeni asýllý ünlü ressam Arshile Gorky’nin yaþamýný ve sanatýný anlatan
`Black Angel’ adlý kitabýn yazarý – NouritzaMatossian, gazetemizi ziyaret
etti. Atom Egoyan’ýn kitaptan etkilenerek Gorky karakterini Ararat filmine
taþýdýðýný söyleyen Matossian, bizleriçalýþmalarý hakkýnda bilgilendirerek,
Arshile Gorky’nin gizemli yaþamýný bu kez AGOS okurlarýyla paylaþtý.
РNeden Arshile Gorky? Sizi bu uzun yolculu̡a iten neydi?
N. MATOSSIAN – Arshile Gorky’nin eserleriyle ilk karþýlaþtýðýmda henüz genç
bir üniversite öðrencisiydim. Sanatla yakýndan ilgileniyordum. Ã=9Dlk anda
anlayamadýðým þaþýrtýcý duygularla sarsýldým. Kara gözlü bu esmer adam beni
son derece etkilemiþti. Ermeni olduðunu bilmiyordum. Fakat görüntüsü
ailemden birini andýrýr gibiydi… Ã=9Dnanmayacaksýnýz o anda bir Ermeni soluðu
hissettim… Ben Kýbrýslýyým, anneannem Kayserili, babam Antepli, Birinci
Dünya Savaþý’nýn öncesinde göç etmiþler Anadolu’dan… Yaþlý ninemin
anýlarý, tüm anlatýlanlar, ailem, çocukluðum bir anda herþey yeniden
canlandý. O coþkuyla ressam hakkýnda bilgi aramaya koyuldum.Kýsa bir yazý
iliþti gözüme, yaklaþtým, okudum… Ve o yazýtokat gibi patladý yüzümde…
Yanýlmamýþtým! Gerçek adýnýn Vostanik Manug Adoyan olduðu, Van’da doðduðu,
sonradan Amerika’ya göçettiði kýsa bir notla belirtilmiþti. Ã=9Dþte o an
araþtýrmacý ruhumun kabardýðýný hissettim.
– Gorky kitabýnýz nasýl oluþtu? more
Dear Friends, two new articles are added in website.
They are: Nmanutyun Hisus Qristosi, Girk A. Saghmosneri Meknutyune
The previously added articles are:
Yete mi enker unes  Prktchi Mayre  Anmah Hayrer
Avetaranakan Yeranutyunnere Parisezin u Maxavore
Amenayn Srboz Sere vaxtchan chuni Khosqin havatarim, Masn A.
Khosqin havatarim, Masn B. Khosqin havatarim, Masn C.
Khosqin havatarim, Masn D.  Zisagitutyun, Masn 01 Mankan xndranq
Mashtoz Vahe Lazaryan [email protected]Â Â Â
NEWS IN BRIEF
– Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh territory detained an Azerbaijani
soldier, Gusein Aidyn of Baku, who crossed into Armenian positions.
– Repercussions of a earthquake in eastern Turkey that destroyed houses,
killing 18 people and injuring 21 more on Friday, measured 5.1 Richter in
Turkey and 3 in Armenia.
– Azeri foreign ministry issued a statement yesterday condemning a US
decision to provide 5 million dollars to Nagorno Karabagh as part of its
assistance to foreign countries.
– 34.9 million dollars will be allocated for defence expenditure in
Azerbaijan constituting 2.3 per cent of the GDP.
– A worker was killed and seven others received injuries when a tank holding
sulphuric acid expl oded on Wednesday at an Armenian power station.
– A small X-32 agricultural plane crashed while surveying forests outside
the Agveran village Wednesday in northeastern Armenia, killing the pilot.
g i b r a h a y  c a l e n d a r
– THE TEKEYAN YOUTH MOVEMENT OF CYPRUS is organizing a unique excursion to
Armenia, 7-14 August. Participants will exclusively be Armenian youth (ages
13 to 35) from all over the world. The one-week programme is specially
organized to include an optimum amount of sightseeing, led by expert guides.
Trips to Shushi, Stepanakert, Noravank, Gladzor, Lake Sevan, Dilidjan, Barz
Lidj, Khor Virab, St. Etchmiadzin, Zvartnots, Sartarabad, Garni, Keghart,
Dzidzernagapert are included in the meticulously prepared programme. Lodging
will be at the “Lousakert” Hotel, 20 kilometres North of Yerevan, ideally
situated in an orchard. The hotel rooms are fully equipped with all the
necessary facilities. The price of the WHOLE PACKAGE, including FULL BOARD,
all the excursions, transfers from and to the airport, return air fare from
Cyprus and visa to Armenia is only 335 Cyprus pounds. Those interested
should immediately call 99747798 or 99929343, as availability is very
limited.
– Khanasor and Lisbon 5 Expeditions commemoration at Troodos Picnicsite of
“Kampos tou Livadhiou” on Sunday July 25, 2004, organised by AYMA,
Dashnaktsoutiun Cyprus Committee, The Armenian National Committee of Cyprus,
AYF, Larnaca and Limassol Armenian Clubs, Hamazkayin and ARS (HOM) Cyprus
Chapters. Hayer hishek nviragan ayn ore, Houlis amsoun ksanhinkin gadaretsek
mer done. Commemorative Programme begins at 12:00 noon.
– The Armenian Youth Federation is organising its Annual Summer Camp at the
Camp Site of Morphou Prelature from 9-15 August 2004. To receive more
information or to register please contact the following: Nareg Tavitian,
Nora Sarian or Simon Aynedjian.
– A Tour to Armenia is being organised by the Central Executive of
Hamazkayin from August 20-September 3, 2004 with the participation of
members and friends from Armenian diaspora communities. Trips to Karabagh
are also scheduled. To receive more info and to apply for the trip please
contact the Cyprus Hamazkayin committee members immediately.
– HAMAZKAYIN FORUM 2004 The 10th Forum, Lebanon:From July 12-18 (Optional)
Armenia: From July 19-31, 2004. Thought provoking lectures, trips to
historic and amazing destinations, and nights of dancing and entertainment
are only some of the Forum highlights. For many Armenian students across the
globe, the Hamazkayin Summer Forum is one of the most anticipated events of
the year. Those interested should visit the website for more details on how
to apply.
– The Armenian Prelature of Cyprus announces that the next permit for the
Armenian Cemetery visitation at Ayios Dhometios on the Green line, is
scheduled for Sunday 11 July, 2004.
– The Armenian Youth Federation has organised three events for Armenian
Cypriot youth for the month of July as follows: Limassol outing on Monday
July 12. Weekend in Ayia Napa on 17-18 July and Beach Party on Saturday July
31. Details to follow from the pages of Gibrahayer e-newsletter.
– POSTPONED The Annual General Meeting of The Hamazkayin Cultural and
Educational Association “Oshakan” Cyprus Chapter has been postponed for
Tuesday September 14, 2004.
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ArmenPress
July 8 2004
ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER, FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVE EGYPTIAN DIPLOMAT
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian and the visiting deputy foreign affairs minister of Egypt
Muhammad Shahaban praised on July 7 the high level of political
relations between the two countries, including also relations within
international organizations, emphasizing the need of continuing
bilateral political consultations. Stating the similarity of both
countries’ views concerning the region, the two men agreed that
stability and peace are the key conditions for fostering economic
ties between Egypt and Armenia.
Margarian and Shahaban were quoted by the government’s press
office as saying that trade and economic contacts are lagging behind
the political ones and that the available potential is not used
fully. They expressed hope that reciprocal visits by both countries’
businessmen, organization of exhibitions and business forums will
help to open new cooperation possibilities.
Margarian expressed his satisfaction over the opening of the first
joint enterprise that is manufacturing medicines. He also thanked the
government of Egypt for inviting Armenian specialists for training
courses in Egypt, organized by the Egyptian Foundation for Technical
Cooperation with CIS countries. About 215 Armenian specialists were
trained as part of that program in 2003.
The 4-th session of the Egyptian-Armenian intergovernmental
commission for cooperation, slated to take place in Cairo next autumn
was underscored in terms of giving a new push to developing trade and
economic elations.
Also ides on cooperation between Egyptian and Armenian
universities were exchanged. On the same day deputy foreign minister
Muhammad Shahaban was received by Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian.

ArmenPress
July 8 2004
PRIME MINISTER, EU COMMISSIONER DISCUSS NEW NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian conferred today with Janez Potocnik, a junior commissioner
for a new EU member state, Slovenia, who works with the enlargement
commissioner, Guenter Verheugen. The latter is charge of the EU’s
“new neighborhood” program, which offers closer ties to some EU
neighbors. Potocnik is touring the South Caucasus countries to
emphasize the EU’s renewed interest in these three countries.
Prime minister Margarian was quoted by the government’s press
office as saying that the visit is important in the context of EU’s
New Neighborhood Policy, extended recently to the three South
Caucasian countries. Margarian reiterated Armenia’s willingness to
build its relationships with Europe based on its values and
fundamental principles, which he said stem from Armenians’ interests.
He said a special task force was set up to develop the National Plan
of Actions for implementation of Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement between Armenia and the EU.
Potocnik said: “The next steps are to consider the possibility of
setting up a so-called action plan with Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia – setting the reform priorities they should address. And, on
our side, offering an approximation with the European Union.” That,
according to him, could eventually — but in the longer term — lead
very far toward a share in the internal market, for instance, or
alignment with several EU policies, like environment or energy and
transport networks.” He said the EU is prepared to assist these
countries to reform all sectors of life.
Both sides agreed also that unless the regional conflicts are
resolved no complete integration with Europe is possible, adding also
that establishment of normal relations among all the countries of
region will give a substantial boost to economy and trade
development.

ArmenPress
July 8 2004
NEW IRANIAN AMBASSADOR ARRIVES IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS: The newly appointed ambassador of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia, Ali Reza Haqiqian, has arrived
today in Yerevan. He will hand over his credentials to president
Robert Kocharian in a few days and will take his new tenure.
The appointment was made upon a proposal by Iranian foreign
minister Kamal Kharrazi. Haqiqian had previously served as a foreign
ministry director-general as well as Iranian charge d’affaires to
Baghdad.
Ali Reza Haqiqian was born in 1958 in Isfahan. He received a
uiversity education and has been working with Iran’s foreign ministry
since 1981, holding various positions in Iran’s embassies in Canada,
Germany and Iraq. The new ambassador is married and is father to
three children. He is fluent in English.
From: Baghdasarian

ArmenPress
July 8 2004
COLORS OF CHILDHOOD 2 PROJECT TO ENLARGE ART WORLD OF CHILDREN

YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS: About 600 schools children from 180
schools, all connected with each other through Internet, presented
their pictures, sculptures, goblins and other handicraft at the
Colors of Childhood exhibition which is launched by a project with an
identical title. The best works of children posted by the project at
were presented during this one day exhibition. This is
the initiative of Youth Achievements educational organization with
the financial support of the Open Society Institute.
“The ability to present works for starting talented artists is as
important as for professional artists. Internet is a place where many
people can learn about young artists and encourage them,” project
responsible Sona Manucharian told Armenpress.
This is the second exhibition by the project Colors of Childhood.
The first was an exhibition sale the raised money of which was
provided to a number of schools.

Russia, Ex-Soviet States Rebuke Democracy Watchdog
8 July 2004
VIENNA, Austria (Reuters) – Russia and eight other ex-Soviet states accused
Europe’s biggest security and human rights watchdog Thursday of failing to
respect their sovereignty.
The 55-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
whose activities include monitoring elections, has chided former the Soviet
states for ballots it says failed to live up to democratic standards.
“In part (the OSCE) does not respect such fundamental principles … as
non-interference in internal affairs and respect of national sovereignty,”
said a statement signed by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Russia has long complained of double standards at the OSCE, which it says
criticizes human rights and democracy failings east of Vienna, where the
organization is based, but does not denounce similar shortcomings to the
west.
Of the OSCE’s 18 field activities, 12 are in the former Soviet Union.
The OSCE said Russia’s presidential election in March was well administered
but fell short of democratic standards, particularly where the state media
was concerned.
President Vladimir Putin swept to a second term with 71 percent of votes in
that election.
“It is of concern that OSCE field missions focus not on their mandated role
to help the authorities of the receiving state …, but exclusively on
monitoring human rights and democratic institutions,” the CIS statement
added.
The European Union issued a statement expressing its “serious concern” at
some of the CIS states’ comments. (Additional reporting by Richard Ayton in
Moscow)

The Times (London)
July 8, 2004, Thursday
What these ‘show trials’ are really showing us
Simon Sebag Montefiore
THIS IS the season of “show trials”, but the fallen tyrants,
arraigned before courts of law and tribunals of posterity, are not
performing as expected.
Saddam Hussein, arraigned in Baghdad, appeared appropriately
bewildered until he felt the restorative beams of centre stage and
swaggeringly challenged the jurisdiction of the court, accusing
President Bush of being the “real criminal”.
Slobodan Milosevic has gone one better -this week he claimed that his
blood pressure is so high that he is not fit to be tried at all.
Former dictators often turn out to be as manipulatively adept in
court as Marshall Hall and they can lead Western justice a merry
dance -for the very reason that our system tries desperately to give
the accused every chance to assert their innocence. These trials are
the judicial equivalent of the diplomatic confrontations between
democracies and dictatorships. In those tournaments of power,
dictatorships are well equipped to exploit the flawed qualities of
democracies whose decision-making is cumbersomely consensual and
whose public opinion eschews bloodshed. Hence it took years of brazen
Nazi aggression, of Serbian blood-letting, of Saddamist brinkmanship
before we intervened.
Yet as in democracy itself, it is the very flawed fairness of the
proceedings that makes them so worthwhile. Dictators can preen,
deliver sicknotes, and rant at the judges, but this sound and fury
merely raise the dignity of the court itself. The more they play up,
the more justice is seen to be done -and it must be seen to be done.
These trials are colloquially, and semi-ironically, called “show
trials”, but we should be more respectful of ourselves, and the
victims of these monsters. Words matter in times such as ours. These
trials are primarily to give justice to every victim, treating each
destroyed human life as cause for a trial in itself, and thus to
avoid colluding in Stalin’s macabre quip: “One death is a tragedy, a
million, a statistic.” But except for high-profile assassinations,
this is impossible with so many victims. Thus we enter the realm of
Stalinist insouciance accusing the tyrants of genocide, an indictment
of numbers so large that there is a danger that they become
meaningless or give refuge to deniers who ape Disraeli’s bon mot:
“There are lies, damn lies and statistics.”
Nevertheless we must also admit that there is much “show” in these
trials too: they must show justice to Serbia or Iraq, helping them to
rebuild and showing them the humiliation of these grotesques; they
must show other benighted places that their tyrants may be held to
account; and show us -Western electorates -that our war was just.
Justice must be seen to be done in more ways than is usual.
Despite this, they are not show trials. The original was developed in
the USSR in the late Twenties and reached its apogee with Stalin’s
three theatrical tribunals in 1936, 1937 and 1938. In these trials,
his opponents, Lenin’s celebrated lieutenants, Zinoviev and Bukharin,
admitted belonging to all-embracing criminal conspiracies. They were
sentenced to death and shot. There were plenty of credulous fools,
such as the US Ambassador Joseph E. Davies, but most Westerners
realised that these were really not trials at all but melodramatic
political passion plays.
The new Soviet archives show just how lovingly these theatricals were
supervised by their playwright-in-chief. I found notes by the
Prosecutor-General Andrei Vyshinsky showing how Stalin had dictated
his summings-up. Stalin constantly tinkered with the text, writing
that it required some “stylistic polishing”. The victims (or actors)
understood that these were plays in a new Aesopian language designed
to retell and sanctify the Bolshevik Revolution for the party and
posterity -hence Bukharin’s brilliant performance, though he wrote
pitifully to Stalin: “Koba, why do I have to die?”
Historically, we are not above holding show trials ourselves. The
trials of Charles I or of Henry VIII’s victims truly resemble
Stalinist show trials. The accusations against Anne Boleyn
-ridiculous conspiracies of witchcraft, incest, murder, treason
-exist only in the alternative universe of fatal theatre.
The crimes of Milosevic or Saddam are much too real, so it is
irritating that we cannot stop them relishing the limelight. It is
the nature of these demi messianic egomaniacs to believe that
everything they have ever done was part of their historic mission.
They cannot help playing to posterity.So they are hard criminals to
try. Not unlike a serial killer who has been found guilty in the
tabloids, we already believe, no we already know that Saddam and
Milosevic are as guilty as sin but the challenge is to prove that
they gave direct homicidal orders. Then there is the enduring fear
that they engendered and the cosa nostra-style command structures
which make guilt hard to stick.
But dictators are often self-righteously bureaucratic, seeing no
reason not to record their atrocities. Stalin’s archives contain his
(and his henchmen) signatures on orders to kill randomly hundreds of
thousands by quota; to torture individuals; even to execute 28,000
Polish officers in 1940. But he also gave orders to kill well-known
people using a special codeword which symbolised the highest secret
power: “The Instantsiya orders…” and this was passed down the line.
Had Stalin faced trial, this would have been hard to pin down. Hitler
knew much better that he was doing wrong because his signature
virtually never appears on orders for the Final Solution.
The danger is that such trials become stand-alone spectacles that
blame all crimes on one man and neither assign the guilt correctly
nor cleanse the culture. The true success of Nuremberg was not the
death sentences but that the trial was the centrepiece of German
de-Nazification and renaissance. In Russia, true responsibility for
mass murder (beyond Stalin and Beria) has never been faced, hence the
difficulty in creating civic society: no sin, no redemption.
There are limits to what we can do. We cannot capture all the tyrants
(blood-spattered Idi Amin or Ethiopia’s diabolical Mengistu never
faced trial) but we must do what we can. Should they be shot? Such
are their crimes that it seems that only death even approaches the
appropriate level for such malice and such misery. Stalin took a
minute interest in the conduct of his victims at the intimate moment
of execution: do we diminish ourselves by playing hangmen?
If these are not show trials, we need to coin a new word for them and
their special justice. Perhaps they are not only murder trials on a
colossal scale but also “exhibition trials” conveying “hyperjustice”
to the world of 24-hour news. We risk monsters being found innocent,
showing off like Saddam, claiming sickness like Milosevic, cheating
the hangman like Goering. But these are risks well worth taking.
Those who mock these trials should know that the dictators themselves
sensed the need for them. Hitler and Stalin feared that history would
notice their murders but decided that no one would care. “After all,
who today speaks of the massacre of the Armenians?” asked Hitler,
ordering the Final Solution. “Who’s going to remember all this
riff-raff in ten or twenty years?” asked Stalin, signing death lists.
“Who now remembers the boyars Ivan the Terrible killed? No one!”
Saddam surely hoped the same about Kuwaitis, Kurds, Shias, Marsh
Arabs -“dogs” all.
At the very least, these trials are acts of remembrance;
demonstrations that leaders are responsible for their crimes; and
exhibitions of true justice (in which we must take a sort of pride
even in the failures.) But at their best, they are both a healing
tonic and tolling lesson not from history but from today, delivering
repentance, redemption and renaissance. They must offer spectacle but
never show.
Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore, winner
of The Times history book of the year prize, is out in paperback

The Advertiser
July 8, 2004 Thursday
Games official attacks Australia
Olympic drugs battle widens
By PAUL CARTER in Sydney
WORLD sport’s top drugs czar yesterday launched a scathing attack on
Australia’s handling of the Mark French cycling affair as evidence
emerged of doping allegations in weightlifting.
The Australian Weightlifting Federation has launched an investigation
after being told by the Australian Sports Drug Agency an unnamed
lifter had refused to take a drug test. The Court of Arbitration for
Sport is expected to hear the case next week.
Australia’s Olympic weightlifting team is due to be named tomorrow
with Caroline Pileggi and Armenian-born Sergo Chakhoyan expected to
be the only two weightlifters going to Athens.
“There is an incident that is causing us some concern which is being
looked at right now,” said AWF president Sam Coffa, who would only
identify the athlete as being an AWF member.
The average penalty for such an offence is a two-year ban. The
Australian Olympic Committee and the Australian Sports Commission are
monitoring the situation and have offered to help the federation
present its case against the athlete, who is contesting the charge.
World Anti-Doping Agency president and International Olympic
Committee member Dick Pound, meanwhile, said the ASC should make
public the results of former judge Robert Anderson’s investigation
into allegations against five Olympic cyclists.
“What’s going to happen if some of these people go to Athens as part
of your Olympic team,” Mr Pound told the ABC. “Australians are going
to wonder if they have sent athletes who are guilty of doping
offences. The rest of the world is going to say how is it that
Australia deals with all these things in secret.
ASC chief executive Mark Peters said he was disappointed at Mr
Pound’s criticisms which came only weeks after he welcomed the
Anderson investigation.
“One has to wonder what has changed in those two weeks that now has
him saying, without any supporting evidence that ‘Australia has badly
handled numerous drug inquiries’,” Mr Peters said.
Mr Pound said his organisation was considering writing to federal
Sports Minister Rod Kemp in a bid to force the release of the
Anderson investigation into world champions Graeme Brown, Jobie
Dajka, Sean Eadie, Shane Kelly and Brett Lancaster.
The investigation followed French’s allegations the five had injected
legal vitamins in his room at Del Monte, the Australian Institute of
Sport’s track cycling headquarters in Henley Beach.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress