OFF THE WIRE

FORCED LABOR: A U.S. court has sentenced a female pastor to federal prison in connection with a scheme to force Estonian teenagers to work long hours for a cleaning service after luring them to the country with promises of a religious education. Joyce E. Perdue, 57, was sentenced to six years incarceration; Robert Hendricks, a 40-year-old assistant pastor, received a six-and-a-half year sentence; and Elizabeth Brown, a 42-year-old church music director, received a 15-month sentence, all on charges of conspiracy to smuggle aliens and visa fraud, the Washington Post reported last week. According to an attorney, the group brought 12 Estonian teens into the country between 1996 and 1998 and promised them they could study at a Bible school or work for their organization, the Word of Faith World Outreach Church. Instead, they often worked from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., cleaning businesses and laboring for furniture installation companies. They were paid $50 to $100 weekly. The visa fraud charges stem from false documents the group filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, so the youths could stay in the country.

FRESH SOUNDS: An agreement inked between Latvian and Japanese officials will allow the Latvian National Opera to purchase badly-needed musical instruments. The document was signed by Latvian Foreign Ministry state secretary Maris Riekstins and Japanese Ambassador to Latvia Tomio Uchida. The agreement also marks the 10th anniversary since the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In 1998 a similar agreement allowed the symphonic orchestra of western Latvian town Liepaja to refurbish instruments. Uchida said the instruments would reach Latvia in about a year's time because they have been specially ordered. Latvian National Opera director Andrejs Zagars thanked the Japanese government for its help, especially since the orchestra plays in all ballet and opera performances. The opera will receive eight harpsichords, one grand piano, six flutes, 11 clarinets and many other instruments.

MAFIA HIT: Prominent Latvian criminal underworld member Coyote was shot dead Dec. 3 near a karting hall in the outskirts of Riga. Vassily Yeliseyev, 42, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, police spokesman Krists Leiskalns said. An investigation is underway. Yeliseyev was regarded as one of the most important individuals in the brigade of Latvia's "racket king" Ivan Kharitonov, who was released from jail last summer. Yeliseyev was reportedly in possession of the Kharitonov brigade's funds while Kharitonov was serving his sentence. Yeliseyev was one of the defendants in the "racket king" case, and was even charged with kidnapping banker Falik Shalim. But his association with the crime was not proven. After he was charged as part of the criminal case against Kharitonov in 1997, Yeliseyev survived two attempts to murder him. The Lursoft databank indicates he was the director of a firm suspected of criminal underworld connections, and was also the owner of a company operating a transit business and arranging driving courses. Yeliseyev is the fourth criminal underworld celebrity in Latvia shot dead since the summer when Kharitonov was released from jail.

NAZI HUNT: The Simon Wiesenthal Center once again called on the Latvian government to launch investigations into Nazi war crimes committed by Latvians and bring them to justice, as well as to cancel the rehabilitation and financial benefits granted to Holocaust perpetrators convicted by Soviet courts. Wiesenthal Center Israeli office director Efraim Zuroff said that during the more than 10 years since Latvia has regained independence it has not launched investigation in any Nazi war crimes perpetrated by Latvians much less brought anyone to trial. Lots of effort, however, has been exerted to bring Communist criminals to justice, he said. According to Zuroff, Latvia's ability to confront its bloody Holocaust past and the large-scale participation of Latvians in Holocaust atrocities will be severely compromised if there is no serious effort toward prosecutions. He also urged the government to cancel the pardons it had granted to at least 41 people convicted of Holocaust crimes by the Soviet courts and to take away their financial benefits.

REFERENDUMS APART: Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian politicians haven't been planning to hold referendums on joining the European Union simultaneously, said Mart Nutt, a member of the Estonian Parliament's European Affairs Committee and deputy chairman of the ruling Pro Patria Union party. "This is the first I've heard of referendums taking place at the same time in the three countries," he said. However, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins said the three states will hold referendums on entry into the EU simultaneously on Aug. 23, 2003. A spokesman for the PM later explained this was a proposal to the neighboring countries rather than a cut-and-dry decision.

BLACK BOX: Data recovered from the cockpit voice recorder of the An-28 plane which crash landed on Estonia's western Hiiumaa island a week ago revealed nothing significant to investigators. Spokespeople for the Ministry of Transport and Communications said Nov. 30 the recordings provided no direct clue as regards the reasons that brought down the plane some 1.5 kilometers from its destination airfield. The contents of the recordings cannot be made public at this point, but it will be done after the investigation is finished. The commission expects to finish deciphering the contents of the black box by the middle of the next week. The An-28 aircraft, owned by the Enimex company, was on a scheduled flight from Tallinn to Kardla, the main town on the island of Hiiumaa off Estonia's western coast, when it crashed. One passenger died on the scene and a second victim, a 10-year-old boy, died from severe injuries in hospital without regaining consciousness. The plane carried 14 passengers and three crew.