OFF THE WIRE

FOR TIBET: Lithuanian supporters of Tibetan independence have launched a campaign at stores of the large retail chain VP Market, urging customers to boycott commodities manufactured in China. Over the weekend, customers at several of the stores in Vilnius found stickers glued on items made in China, saying "Free Tibet" and suggesting that the purchase of inexpensive and poor-quality Chinese goods supports the occupation of Tibet. Writer Jurga Ivanauskaite, an active supporter of Tibet, said the action was organized by an informal group of supporters of Tibet's freedom. She noted that VP Market stores throughout Lithuania are flooded with cheap Chinese goods of poor quality, adding that there are cases of child and prisoner exploitation in the country. Tibet supporters organize similar actions in many European and Asian countries, she said. Official Vilnius sees Tibet as an inseparable part of China, but there are several non-governmental organizations supporting Tibetan independence in the country and a parliamentary relations group on Tibet at the Parliament.

FUTURE MERI: Estonia's recently-established Res Publica party would like to see ex-President Lennart Meri heading it after the present chairman Rein Taagepera leaves in early summer. Several politicians have told the daily Eesti Paevaleht that after Professor Taagepera, who was asked to get the budding liberal party through its growing pains, leaves, Meri would be named party chairman before the next elections. Ken-Marti Vaher, Res Publica's general secretary, said it was still premature to speak about a new chairman. "There are no concrete candidates to Rein Taagepera's post yet, and we can speak about it only in a couple of months," he said. Meri made a speech at the new party's opening in Tallinn's Saku Hall in early December. "Lennart Meri attended the meeting from his personal sympathy. It's still early to speak about him as chairman, because no candidates have been appointed," Vaher said. Res Publica plans to have 10,000 members in three or four years. According to recent polls, the party enjoys the support of 4 percent of the population.

DRUGS BUST: Tallinn police found last week nearly 3,800 tablets of ecstasy in the home of a key person in a drug ring operating in Tallinn and Narva. The haul was the biggest ever discovered in the country. Besides ecstasy, officers found half a kilo of heroin, more than 20 grams of cocaine, more than a kilo of amphetamines, and about 300 grams of hemp in the rental apartment of "Ahmed," 46, said a spokesman for Tallinn police. Superintendent Erik Heldna said policemen also discovered in the apartment numerous objects indicating that drug trafficking had been going on for some time there. The street value of the drugs seized reaches one million kroons ($57,000). Police have reason to suspect Ahmed, who has two previous convictions, of involvement in several major drug-related crimes last year. Relying on information obtained in earlier investigations, police conclude Ahmed has for years been a key figure in drug-related crime. Police have launched criminal proceedings.

FAT BOOK: Former Lithuanian prime minister Adolfas Slezevicius unveiled in Vilnius on Jan. 23 his new book detailing the legal odyssey that took him all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to seek redress from the Lithuanian state. The book, entitled "European Justice vs. Lithuanian Blind Justice," comes exactly six years after a case was brought against him for alleged abuse of office. The book is a 530-page collection of documents from the case brought against Slezevicius, the prime minister in Lithuania's Democratic Labor Party government from 1993 to 1996, and Slezevicius' case against the Lithuanian state. The author said that documents from the case against him included in the book required no commentary. At the book presentation ceremony in a Vilnius hotel, he said: "At that time there were absurd proceedings taking place, and it's very annoying I had to take part in them." He added: "I hope that with the release of this book, people can get better acquainted with such cases." He hopes the book will become a practical handbook for the Lithuanian courts, prosecutors, attorneys and law enforcement agencies. The court in Strasbourg awarded the former PM $25,000, of which $17,500 went to cover attorneys' fees. Slezevicius wrote and published a book detailing his political career in 1998.

HUNTER-GATHERER: Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, former Latvian president Guntis Ulmanis and a group of MPs and businessmen shot down 31 animals during a hunt in commercial forests in central Lithuania over the weekend, the Lithuanian press reported. The country's largest Lietuvos Rytas daily said on Jan. 28 that the hunters shot 22 wild boars, four foxes, four female deer and one hare, paying over 5,000 litas ($1,250) for the pleasure. Brazauskas was called king of the hunt after blasting away five wild boars. Ulmanis also had a successful hunt, killing one wild boar and a deer. The hunting areas in the Panevezys district are among the largest in Lithuania. The well-kept areas, which were earlier called representational hunting regions, occupy over 10,000 hectares. Animals are constantly fed and protected there. A hunting permit costs 120 litas, with an additional price for every killed animal, ranging from several dozen to several hundred litas.

IN HARM'S WAY: The Lithuanian Parliament adopted a resolution on Jan. 24 on the prevention of drug addiction in Lithuania. The resolution defines the problems of drug abuse and AIDS as being a threat to national security. The document says that despite efforts made by governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, the number of young people using narcotic and psychotropic substances is growing alarmingly. Rapidly spreading drug abuse and illegal drug rings pose a threat to public health and intellectual potential, impedes social development and creates favorable conditions for organized crime, endangering the nation itself.