From: tzarros@ccs.carleton.ca () Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Tue, 16 Aug 1994 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency Bulletin --------------------------- * Tirana: trial opens, indictment altered, incidents, arrests, two Athens observers injured * President, Premier, condolences to NATO, Woerner family * Cholera: No fear in Greece, Kremastinos says * Greece celebrates Assumption of Virgin, Armed Forces Day Tirana: trial opens, indictment altered, incidents, arrests, two Athens observers injured ---------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 16/8/1994 (ANA): The trial of the six ethnic Greek members of the political organisation "Omonia" which opened in Tirana yesterday was adjourned until today, after the prosecutor dropped treason charges, saying they were based on Albania's old Stalinist penal code. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges of spying and illegal possession of arms. They were arrested in April after two Albanian conscripts were killed in a camp near the border. Tirana blamed Greece for the attack, but Athens flatly rejected the charges. Foreign Under-secretary Yiannos Kranidiotis told a press conference Greece was following developments and had already expressed profound dismay at the indictment. He added it was riddled with holes, legally unacceptable, and served political expediencies aimed at involving Greece and intimidating the ethnic Greek minority into fleeing their hereditary dwellings. But tension remained high as police broke up a small demonstration of ethnic Greeks protesting the trial of their compatriots outside the courtroom. The Greek government said Albanian police arrested and briefly detained 22 Greek journalists, photographers, and cameramen as well as lawyers and observers to the trial who stood around the protesters. It said two Greek citizens had been injured in the at tack. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said the Greek Ambassador in Tirana lodged a strong demarche with the authorities in Tirana demanding the immediate release of the journalists and lawyers. In Athens, the Albanian ambassador was summoned at the Foreign Ministry, handed a protest and asked to arrange transport back to Greece for the injured. A medical report said one of the two injured Greek citizens, Theodoros Aspasides, a member of the Thessaloniki City Council, was suffering from concussion and was to be flown back to Greece later yesterday. Another Greek, Evgenios Haitidis, also from the Thessaloniki city council and a member of the Bar Association, suffered head injuries. According to eye witnesses in Tirana, trouble started when police broke up a demonstration of 15 ethnic Greeks, surrounded by journalists, held banners and demanded ethnic and religious freedom. Mr. Venizelos told reporters the Greek government had "declared itself on the issue of the trial of (ethnic) Greeks in Albania formally with absolute clarity in a letter by Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou." He urged the Albanian government and recipients of the letter to read it carefully. Mr. Papandreou wrote to world leaders Sunday stressing the trial was a provocation against Greece and a parody of justice. "Albania's decision to organise such parody of a trial is a hostile move against the Greek minority and an unjustified provocation against Greece," the Premier noted. He added the trial marked the culmination of Albania's harassment of ethnic Greeks. Greece, he wrote, had "shown restraint, helping Albania to modernise, and tolerating more than 300.000 illegal Albanian workers." "A challenge of the sort cannot remain unanswered and Greece is obliged to take all necessary measures," Mr. Papandreou warned in his letter. He did not specify the measures. Referring to the trial, National Defence Under-secretary Nikos Kouris said the Greek people "standing united as never before, will face this new provocation with determination, cool-headedness, and effectiveness and will defend its sovereign rights against any designs." Main Opposition New Democracy party issued an announcement saying that judging "from the incidents it is obvious, from the opening day of the trial in Tirana, that it is a parody." "Is established once more," the announcement says "that human rights are brutally violated in the neighbouring country." "The Berisha regime has failed to realise that Greece is in a position to harshly answer and escalate its response," the announcement added. New Democracy President Miltiades Evert declared the government should call for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers as a first step to escalating action. Political Spring (Pol. An) Party leader Antonis Samaras yesterday said the "only sensible action by (Albanian President Sali) Berisha would not be amending the indictment, but putting an immediate end to such parody of a trial." Thessaloniki Mayor Constantine Kosmopoulos condemned the arrest of journalists and lawyers monitoring the trial yesterday in Tirana stating that "we denounce the incidents to the international community, with the certainty that it will rise and assume a more active role." The Athens Union of Journalists (ESHEA) issued an announcement denouncing the incidents in Tirana yesterday saying that Mr. Berisha "seeks to put Greek-Albanian relations to the test." President, Premier, condolences to NATO, Woerner family ------------------------------------------------------ Athens, 16/8/1994 (ANA): President Constantine Karamanlis yesterday expressed grief for the death of NATO Secretary-General Manfred Woerner, stressing his significant role in the Alliance's historic period at the end of the Cold War. "At a crucial period, Mr. Woerner had led the Alliance into a new and promising phase in its history," President Karamanlis said in a message to the NATO Secretary- General's family. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou wrote both NATO Headquarters and the late Secretary-General's family expressing most profound regret for Mr. Woerner's death. Mr. Woerner died at his Brussels home on Saturday, after fighting cancer for over two years. Cholera: No fear in Greece, Kremastinos says --------------------------------------------- Athens, 16/8/1994 (ANA): Health, Welfare and Social Security Minister Dimitris Kremastinos responding to questions on the issue of cholera cases reported in Turkey, stated yesterday the Greek public had no reason to fear. He added Greece 's water supply and sewage networks were safe, and no case of cholera had been reported for decades. In Thessaloniki, government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos declared Greece maintains a close working relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and was monitoring the situation, standing ready to take all necessary action, as was the case with all other countries neighbouring with Turkey. Tourism Minister Dionysios Livanos who is in Heraklion, Crete, stated that Greece will not suspend sea communications with Turkey, despite the cholera problem. Greece celebrates Assumption of Virgin, Armed Forces Day -------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 16/8/1994 (ANA): Thousands yesterday gathered at the Church of the Panayia Soumela at Vermion and the Megaloharis on Tinos to celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin and Armed Forces Day. In an Armed Forces Day message, President Constantine Karamanlis praised Greece's defence staff for their efforts, offering his warmest wishes of progress and prosperity. "The nation is facing critical circumstances," President Karamanlis said in his message. "The instability and uncertainty that characterise our era and, mainly, unsettled conditions prevailing in the Balkans, result in an imperilled tension, which becomes all the more visible in our region," he said. President Karamanlis also said that "our country, as an inseparable part of the United Europe, and with its democratic regime safeguarded, it could and ought to become a model of internal peace and progress and also a factor of stability in our region. " "The role of our Armed Forces is decisive in reaching this goal," the President added. In a message to the Armed Forces, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou referred to the unstable and critical conditions facing the Balkans. "We are going through a period, in the Balkan region, that is still unstable and particularly critical," Mr. Papandreou said. "The permanent threat from the east is always visible, and careless action, by certain of our neighbours, adds problems and creates a particularly sensitive and dangerous situation," the Prime Minister said in his message. Mr. Papandreou added "the role of our Armed Forces is, indeed, decisive for defending our national rights and peace." "Willingness, ability, combat-readiness and forging a spirit of national unity in our Armed Forces, constitute our prime concern. And their constant reinforcement is our firm policy," he concluded. National Defence Minister Gerasimos Arsenis stressed in his speech on the island of Tinos, during the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin and Armed Forces Day that "the Armed Forces are prepared to meet any threat." "A spirit of peace from our country should not be misunderstood, we will not back down on any of our national rights. The Greek people stand united and ready to face any provocation," Mr. Arsenis stressed. National Defence Under-secretary Manolis Beteniotis represented the government at a special service conducted in Piraeus. After the service, he told reporters that "in the present critical moments for our country, in a destabilised Balkan (peninsula) the Armed Forces Day carry a special message of unity, national rally, safeguard of our territorial integrity, and of the continued existence of Hellenism." In reference to the trial of the six ethnic Greek leaders of the political organisation "Omonia" in Albania, which started yesterday in Tirana, Mr. Beteniotis said "the unity of the people and the army gives a prospect of optimism and hope in facing all problems of Hellenism." Public Order Minister Stelios Papathemelis represented the government at a service held in the Church of the Panayia Soumela at Vermion. Commenting on the trial of the six, he told reporters that "I want to believe that even at the last moment, the nomenclature governing Tirana will appreciate its true interest and refrain from taking a decision in such parody of a trial." "In any case," Mr. Papathemelis said, "the government will take strict measures." The trial of the six was adjourned until today after the prosecution dropped high treason charges. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the remaining charges of spying and illegal possession of weapons. The six were arrested by the Tirana authorities after an attack at a border conscript in April left two soldiers dead. Tirana blamed Greece for the attack but Athens strongly rejected the accusations. Main Opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Miltiades Evert in his Armed Forces Day greeting yesterday called for national vigilance and a firm national front. "Today our country is surrounded by many dangers," Mr. Evert said, adding that "this calls for national vigilance, a solid national front and national unity." Mr. Evert also said that "as a state we owe it to the Armed Forces to make conditions suitable for them to carry out their task more effectively." During celebrations held for the Armed Forces Day yesterday, the Political Spring party (Pol.An) issued an announcement saying that "the Armed Forces, with a sense of devotion to their national mission, stand as constant guards of the Nation, safeguarding national interest, especially in this period of upheaval in the Balkans and accummulated threats against Greece."