Four countries play hot potato with Kalejs

RIGA - While the West watched, the past and present kept colliding in
Latvia over an 86-year-old man and what he did or did not do more
than 50 years ago.

On Jan. 6, Konrads Kalejs left England for Australia, where he
retains citizenship, after being discovered by the Simon Wiesenthal
Center, an organization dedicated to tracking those suspected of
crimes against humanity during World War II.

Kalejs, an alleged company commander with the Arajs Kommandos during
1941 to 1944, stands accused of killing tens of thousands of Jews in
Latvia.

Since late 1984, when the U.S. Department of Justice began
investigating him, Kalejs has bounced between the United States,
Canada, Australia and, most recently, Britain.

According to theUnited States, he has steadfastly denied the
allegations that he was an officer in the Arajs Kommando or that tens
of thousands of Jews, Gypsies and Communists were being killed in
Latvia.

Kalejs in Australia

Yet each time authorities in Britain, Canada or the United States
threatened action or took action against him, Kalejs returned to
Australia.

"There is no lack of political will in Australia to prosecute persons
alleged to have committed war crimes under the Nazis in World War
II,"said the Australian government in a statement through its embassy
in Stockholm. "The case against Konrads Kalejs was investigated by
the Special Investigations Unit ( started in 1987 to investigate
alleged World War II war criminals suspected of living in Australia),
until all reasonable lines of inquiry were exhausted. The SIU
determined that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him at
that time."

The statement said Australia's SIU completed its investigation into
Kalejs in 1993, and that it was a complete inquiry.

It said the Australian federal police and the director of public
prosecutions concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute
Kalejs after reviewing material in 1997 from deportation hearings in
the United States and Canada.

"The case against Konrads Kalejs nevertheless remains open."

Latvia's will to deal with Kalejs

Under the watchful eyes of international media and Western countries,
the Latvian government reopened its investigation into Kalejs at the
beginning of January.

It concluded its last look into Kalejs in 1997, but found no evidence
to support the allegations of war crimes.

The government has said crimes must be investigated independently of
the time when they were committed, such as the crimes during World
War II.

It called on any person who can help by providing information to the
prosecutor general to do so.

However, that does not suggest Kalejs will soon be standing trial for
war crimes in Latvia.

"It depends on the information which can be gained in such an
investigation. The main idea is that there are investigations of
crimes that cannot be closed,"said Ugis Salna, spokesman for Prime
Minister Andris Skele.

Salna said if there is new information or evidence, the investigation
continues; for now, it is a pre-trial, or preliminary, investigation,
not an official criminal case.

Latvia: We need evidence

In spite of the information gathered by governments in Australia,
Britain, Canada and the United States, the Ministry of Justice said
it's not enough.

"None of the mentioned countries has concrete evidence which would
allow to start a trial; Latvia has no proof of Kalejs' crimes against
humanity,"said Leonard Pavils, the ministry's press secretary.

Evidence, such as the photograph displayed in this paper and others
such as Britain's The Mail on Sunday, is not enough, said Margers
Vestermanis, the director of the Museum of Jews in Latvia.

"To convict [Kalejs], it has to be proven that he killed civilians.
It's not enough that the evidence they have shows him to be a member
of the Arajs Kommandos, "said Vestermanis. "Society can convict him
for his membership in the Arajs Kommando, but from a legal point of
view, there's not enough evidence."

Vestermanis dismissed Kalejs' denials about the Arajs Kommandos and
his knowledge of Nazi atrocities, citing an article in the magazine
"Tevija"on July 4, 1941.

He said the article, or advertisement, wanted to recruit people for
the Nazi SS to clear the country of harmful residents.

"It's obvious to everybody what kind of residents they meant,"said Vestermanis.

Despite the current lack of evidence, Pavils reaffirmed Latvia's
commitment to prosecuting war criminals from World War II, including
Konrads Kalejs. "The position of the Latvian government is as
follows: War crimes are not terminated. Notice that for over 50 years
the KGB has not been able to start a criminal case against Konrads
Kalejs,"said Pavils.

"Anyway, the Latvian government is interested in revealing the truth."