From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca (Theodore Zarros) Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Sat, 13 Aug 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- * P.M. to brief other leaders on Greece-Albania crisis * UN told of Albanian persecution of ethnic Greeks, fake trial * Continental shelf: Greece's relations with Italy, Albania already set under international law * Venizelos on Kinkel Skopje retort statement P.M. to brief other leaders on Greece-Albania crisis ----------------------------------------------------- Athens, 13 Aug. 1994 (ANA): A "solid national front" on the Greek-Albanian crisis has been forged between the government and opposition parties, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias declared yesterday after winding up a series of consultations with leaders of opposition parties. He also announced that Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou intended to carry out "personal demarches" with the leaders of other countries to "keep them posted on the issue". The national front was jointly proclaimed by the government and main opposition New Democracy party Tuesday, after talks between Mr. Papoulias and ND leader Miltiades Evert on the impending trial of six leading members of the ethnic Greek political organisation "Omonia" which opens in Tirana Monday . The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) joined forces with the two main parties on Wednesday after Mr. Papoulias briefed their leaders on the issue in separate talks. Mr. Papoulias wound up his round of consultations yesterday by meeting with Political Spring (Pol.An.) leader Antonis Samaras, who said his party's support for and participation in the front was "a foregone conclusion". Five of the defendants are being tried on charges of treason and spying, carrying sentences ranging from 10 years imprisonment to death, if convicted. The sixth is charged with illegally carrying arms. The Greek government has called the trial a "farce", noting the charges are intended to intimidate the 300,000-strong ethnic Greek minority in Albania. It has called on Tirana to drop the charges. Mr. Papoulias said Wednesday that the Greek government would take "swift and decisive measures" in the event that the six ethnic Greeks were convicted, but refused to reveal them. Mr. Samaras told reporters after meeting with Mr. Papoulias that the trial was a "farce, rigged-up, and unacceptable" and "reminiscent of the Stalinist era" in Albania, and called on the Prime Minister to formally inform world leaders. "The farcical, rigged and unacceptable trial, which is reminiscent of the Stalinist era, should be made known (to the international community) not only through action that has been taken so far, but also formally by the Greek Prime Minister at the level of state leaders in the European Union and the United States. That is something which has not been done to date," Mr. Samaras said. He said the "conciliatory spirit displayed so far by Greece has not only failed to meet with response but, instead, drawn unacceptable intransigence from Albania, and offered Greece the "moral stature to condemn Tirana's provocativeness internationally in all possible directions". Mr. Samaras said his party agreed with the measures Greece intended to take if the six were convicted, adding that "they must be mainly of an economic nature and very harsh". In a related development, Amnesty International (AI) in a statement expressed concern over whether or not the six would get a fair trial, as well as for information gathered by the organisation that the defendants were badly ill-treated after their arrest. AI said that it had sent a letter in June to the Public Prosecutor of Tirana requesting details about the charges against the six, adding concern about allegations of ill-treatment. It added that it had as yet received no reply from the Albanian authorities. At the same time the Greek Monitoring Committee for the Helsinki agreements condemned the prosecution of the six as "unacceptable", and called on the Albanian government "to exhaust all legal possibilities and practices in order to have the prosecution withdrawn". The committee also urged Tirana to co-operate with non-governmental organisations to improve the situation in Albania in the area of human and minority rights. It said two members of its international federation would travel to Tirana to attend the trial, while in the second half of August two members of the Netherlands Helsinki Monitoring Committee would visit Albania to examine human rights problems. The committee also said that a delegation was being set up to go to Albania and examine the problems of the Greek minority on-the-spot, adding that it would be the first such delegation to be sent by an international non-governmental organisation. Asked by reporters whether or not the measures the government might take carried a risk of exacerbating Albanian persecution of the ethnic Greek minority, Mr. Papoulias said the measures "should be effective, and all possible risks are being taken into account". He said the Prime Minister intended to inform government leaders on the "rigged trial against the members of the (Greek) minority". At the same time, strong demarches were also being made with Albanian leader Sali Berisha by the European Union and the United States for defusing the crisis "which he has brought about", Mr. Papoulias said. UN told of Albanian persecution of ethnic Greeks, fake trial ------------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 13 Aug. 1994 (ANA): The Greek delegation to the United Nations issued the following statement Thursday: Five leaders of the large ethnic Greek minority in Albania, including an American citizen, have been charged unacceptably with treason and spying by the Albanian government. The defendants, leading member of "Omonia" (Concord), the organisation which rep- resents the Greek minority, will go on trial in Tirana on August 15th. They were arrested last April during a crackdown on the minority, were held in total isolation and incommunicado until the end of July, and were subjected to physical and psychological torture, according to relatives who were only recently allowed to see them. A sixth defendant is facing lighter charges. Under the Stalinist criminal code still in force in Albania, the "Omonia Five" are charged with treason for violating Article 47 of that code which defines treason as any act aimed at "overturning the proletariat dictatorship." All five face the death penalty. Under this law which condemns any dealings with "capitalist states," even Albanian government leaders are guilty of treason, to the extent they have helped overturn the "proletariat dictatorship" and have accepted funds from "capitalist states". The six defendants have no chance of receiving a fair trial in Albania, where the judicial system is under strong government pressure, as documented by the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers in Geneva. A careful perusal of the indictment, which was released by the Albanian authorities on August 2nd, reveals no evidence to support the charges against the five defendants. It does indicate, however, that Albanian authorities regard as "disloyalty" any attachment by Greek Albanians to their ethnic heritage, any contact with religious or political leaders in Greece, and any call on Tirana to allow the Greek minority to exercise fundamental democratic freedoms and human rights to which it is entitled. (A copy of the indictment in English is available from our office.) This trial, opening on the date of a major Greek Orthodox religious holiday, goes beyond an act of political persecution and represents a deliberate attempt to exterminate the leadership of the Greek minority with trumped up charges and methods reminiscent of the Stalinist past in Albania. The effort to crush the most vocal of the minority's leaders by charging them with espionage is obviously intended to send a message to all ethnic Greeks in the country that no one will be allowed to speak up for them, that they have no future in Albania, and they should leave. If Albanian authorities are allowed to hold a "show trial" and convict and imprison the defendants, their action will intensify a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has included so far curtailment of educational, cultural, and religious rights, arbitrary searches, interrogations, and harassment of Greek communities. Greece has lodged strong protests with the Albanian authorities and Greek government spokesman Prof. Evangelos Venizelos has demanded that bogus charges be withdraw, adding that Greece, "fully aware of the need for stability in the region, considers respect for human rights as non-negotiable. The Albanian action is aimed at intimidating the Greek minority and will not go unanswered." "Omonia" has urgently appealed to international organisations and democratic governments to take effective action aiming at the release of the five defendants and the protection of human rights of all individuals in Albania, particularly ethnic Greeks who are being persecuted in order to be forced to abandon their ancestral homeland. Continental shelf: Greece's relations with Italy, Albania already set under international law ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 13 Aug. 1994 (ANA): Greece said yesterday its rights relating to the Aegean continental shelf were "sovereign rights". Delineation of the continental shelf among neighbouring states is governed by International Law regulations such as those already applying between Greece and Italy, and Greece and Albania. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said Greece's rights to the continental shelf "are national sovereign rights, governed by International Law." He was referring to a press report yesterday according to which Tirana allegedly granted permission to a consortium of international firms to explore for oil in Greece's national sea waters. "The delineation of the continental shelf between neighbouring states is governed by the relative regulations of International Law which have already been applied to Greek-Italian and Italian-Albanian relations," Mr. Venizelos said. The main opposition New Democracy party issued an statement on the issue, stressing: "In the event that the intention and plan of the Albanian regime to proceed with explorations in our national sea waters corresponds with reality, (then it is obvious that) such provocation falls within the general climate of orchestrated tension pursued by (Albanian President Sali) Berisha and constitutes a (Continued on page 4) (Continued from page 3) specific plan aimed, among other things, at creating a continental shelf issue." The ND announcement said that "such an event should be linked to the problems which Turkey creates on the Aegean continental shelf." It said "common denominators" should be sought in both provocative acts. Venizelos on Kinkel Skopje retort statement ------------------------------------------- Athens, 13 Aug. 1994 (ANA): Commenting on a statement by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel that the Greek blockade of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) was creating considerable problems and that a solution had to be found to avoid regional instability, Press and Media Minister Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday: "Greece's positions are well known and clear. Greece is participating in Mr Cyrus Vance's mediation effort under UN auspices, which has been postponed until October following a request by Skopje. It is evident that all other mediation efforts should move within this framework. With regard to Community law, the issue has already been judged on the injunction (brought against Greece by the European Commission) by the Court in Luxembourg, the only competent body. The essential thing is for Skopje's intransigence to be curbed and Greece's proposals accepted, a fact which would considerably strengthen the former's security, prospects for development and prosperity".