Off the Wire

TO THE DEATH: Estonian lawyers think that the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights that confirmed journalist Enno TammerÕs guilt in a freedom of the press case, was clearly political and have promised to appeal against it to the Grand Chamber. ÒWe will go as far as the end, because the decision was politically motivated,Ó says Igor Grazin, a doctor of law who is defending Tammer together with Hannes Vallikivi. ÒThis is clear even from the shocking fact that the judgment was immediately leaked,Ó Grazin said. ÒIf a document is leaked which only a narrow circle of eight people was entitled to know, the motives can only be political. Vilja Savisaar (against whom TammerÕs article was directed) spoke about her great victory just 24 hours after it was made.Ó

SHUT OUT: A court in Tallinn ruled last week on the deportation of Abdoulie Suwarehi, a citizen of Gambia illegally residing in Estonia. Since the 25-year-old Suwarehi was staying in Estonia illegally, the court ruled to place him in a deportation center in the Tallinn prison pending his departure. SuwarehiÕs application for asylum was rejected by the Estonian authorities last spring, after which he was ordered to leave the country. Suwarehi, who didnÕt comply with the order, was arrested by police on Jan. 25. Data obtained by BNS suggests the Citizenship and Migration Board has expelled six people from Estonia under court order this year.

GENDER BENDER: AustraliaÕs honorary consul to Lithuania who tried to ignore Lithuanian legislation on gender equality was warned on Feb. 12 to heed the countryÕs laws. The head of the Foreign MinistryÕs state and diplomatic protocol division, Edminas Bagdonas, asked Australian Consul Salvatore Antonio Meschino to honor the Lithuanian law. An ad was placed in local newspapers in November saying that the restaurant chain Da Antonio needed a Ògamybos vedeja,Ó or production manager. In the Lithuanian language, professions are written according to gender. The ad used the feminine, excluding male applicants. Meschino is the owner of the restaurant chain. The Lithuanian law on gender equality expressly forbids the running of ads seeking employees or students on the basis of gender.

OUTBREAK: Flu and colds have reached epic proportions in many Lithuanian cities and towns, although the larger cities, Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda, have managed to ward off larger outbreaks for now. Doctor Dalia Rokaite of LithuaniaÕs Infectious Disease Control and Prophylactic Center said Feb. 12 that the rate in the western Silale region was 124.2 cases of flu and colds per 10,000 inhabitants, in the southwestern Vilkaviskis region 139.5, in western Raseiniai 147.8, in the northern city of Panevezys 149.2 and in Trakai near Vilnius 156. A flu epidemic officially occurs when there are more than 100 cases per 10,000 inhabitants. The capital Vilnius has just 50 sick inhabitants per 10,000, the port of Klaipeda 58.6 and Kaunas, LithuaniaÕs second largest city, 67.6.

DP-FREE: Medical personnel at the Kaunas Military Medicine Center have found no health problems among a group of Lithuanian soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the Balkans. Assistant chief of the Lithuanian military medical service for the supervision of soldiersÕ health Saulius Katkus said the general clinical tests on soldiers indicated no reason for alarm and all indications are good. Blood and urine tests, X-rays and cardiograms were carried out. ÒEssentially, all the soldiers are healthy,Ó Katkus reported. A total of 400 Lithuanian soldiers have served in the Balkans at different times on different missions. Medical experts from NATO who sent their forces on peacekeeping missions to the Balkans have not yet found a link between the use of depleted uranium weaponry and poor health.

INSPIRED BY TELESCOPE: A British composer has been inspired by a BBC story about the largest telescope in northern Europe, which is situated in Ventspils in western Latvia. The TV story about this telescope inspired composer Michael Omer to write a piece called ÒLittle Star Begins to Sing.Ó Omer writes music for movies and television programs. His music has been nominated for the Academy Awards several times, and Omer took the silver prize in the New York film and television festival. The first performance of the piece that was inspired by the film about the telescope in Latvia took place Feb. 3 in London.

KGB SHADOW: The Latvian Center for Documentation and Investigation of the Consequences of Totalitarianism has information about 14 candidates running for the municipal elections in Riga who have possibly collaborated with the former KGB. People whose names can be found in the centerÕs archives are running for elections from the lists of leftist union For Human Rights in a United Latvia, the Latvian Green Party, the Christian Democratic Union, the Latvian Democratic Party, the Latvian Farmers Union and on the lists of five tiny right-wing nationalist groups. None of these people can be crossed off the lists before their collaboration has been proven in court.

KGB MAN FREE: The Latvian Supreme Court Feb. 7 resolved to reduce the punishment imposed on Yevgeny Savenko, a former Soviet security agent charged with genocide in Latvia, to a year and three months in prison - the period he has already served. So Savenko, 86, who asked for acquittal due to old age and poor health, is able to walk free. Up to now the former KGB officer had been under house arrest. He could not be imprisoned due to poor health. From the court Savenko was taken home by the Russian consul general in Liepaja, Valery Polyakov, as Savenko has become a citizen of Russia. He was glad he had been set free but was dissatisfied that the Supreme Court had failed to acquit him.