||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||| ||| ||| A N T I F A ||| ||| ||| ||| I N F O - B U L L E T I N ||| ||| _____ ||| ||| ||| ||| * News * Analysis * Research * Action * ||| ||| ||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ***** ||/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\||/\|| || * - SUPPLEMENT - * -- June 09, 1996 -- * - SUPPLEMENT - * || ||\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/||\/|| CONTENTS: Supplement 49 _____ 1. (AP) Magistrate Says Mumia Abu-Jamal Unfairly Denied Access To Media 2. (DHKC) REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT -- Habitat: Imperialism, The Policy Of The New World Order; Political Prisoners Hunger Strike, Daily Events 3. (AKIN) AMERICAN KURDISH INFORMATION NETWORK: Kani Xulam Free On Bail 4. (AFN) ANTIFA NETWORK: New "Fuhrer" To Lead Vlaams Blok 5. (BAF) BIRKASTADENS ANTIFA: Action Against Swedish Neo-Nazis 6. (TS) THE STATE, South Carolina: Church Targets Klan Purse 7. (REUTER) Row As Bavaria Demands Women Give Reasons For Abortions 8. (REUTER) SS Officer Leaps From Balcony {Priebke Trial} 9. (PART) New Issue Of Turning The Tide Going To Press ----- X-within-URL: http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/nation/060696/ _________________________________________________________________ MAGISTRATE SAYS MUMIA ABU-JAMAL UNFAIRLY DENIED ACCESS TO MEDIA _________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 1996 Nando.net Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press PITTSBURGH (Jun 6, 1996 10:30 p.m. EDT) -- Prison officials unfairly denied a death row inmate the right to give interviews in retaliation for a book he wrote describing his life as he awaits execution, a federal magistrate ruled Thursday. Kenneth J. Benson said state prison officials also violated Mumia Abu-Jamal's civil rights by opening and photocopying private mail sent to him by his lawyers. Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter and Black Panther, is on death row in the State Correctional Institution following a 1982 murder conviction in the death of Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal's attorneys have asked for a new trial. Benson issued his 66-page ruling in response to Abu-Jamal's request for an order prohibiting state prison officials from blocking future interviews or opening mail from his lawyers. Benson recommended a court order that would prohibit officials from opening the prisoner's mail outside his presence unless they could show they had expected to find evidence of a crime or violation of prison rules. Citing Abu-Jamal's constitutional right to free speech, Benson criticized prison officials for barring him from talking to reporters for three months soon after they learned last February that he planned to publish "Live From Death Row." Nor were officials justified in taking legal documents addressed to Abu-Jamal and passing them to state officials outside the Department of Corrections, Benson said. Prison officials had defended their actions by saying they were investigating whether Abu-Jamal had violated rules against conducting a publishing business from prison. Benson dismissed Abu-Jamal's claim that prison officials violated his civil rights when they refused him access to a paralegal who also visited him socially. And the magistrate said officials had a right to ensure that Abu-Jamal didn't operate a business from prison, which is a violation of prison rules. Both Abu-Jamal and prison officials have 10 days to file objections to Benson's report. U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose will then issue a ruling based on the report. Abu-Jamal's supporters say he was framed for the white officer's shooting because of his past affiliation with the Black Panther Party and his radio reports critical of police. Prosecutors say Abu-Jamal shot Faulkner after seeing the officer struggling with Abu-Jamal's brother, William Cook, whom Faulkner had stopped for a traffic violation. Authorities say Abu-Jamal was fairly convicted on eyewitness testimony and physical evidence. ***** Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 18:34:22 +0000 from: ozgurluk@xs4all.nl ----- HABITAT: IMPERIALISM, THE POLICY OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER For months they have been preparing our people for the Habitat Conference. Months ago they started a - totally incomprehensible - advertisement campaign with slogans like "6 billion people are coming to Istanbul". Habitat II, for which they have spend trillions of lira for conference buildings, streets and board walks, and for which they saw our people as idiots, is opened today with a big party. This opening party, is led by Boutros Gali, secretary-general of the UN - which has been transformed into a War Council of imperialism - and by Demirel, president of a fascist state. The people aren't welcome at this opening party and the sessions. This means the peoples of Turkey and the peoples of the world aren't represented at this conference, they are not going to make decisions which are in the interest of the peoples. The decision to organise Habitat II in Turkey is significant in itself, because the UN rejected the application by Israel because of the problems with Palestine. The application by South Africa was rejected because of its then racist policy and the violation of borders. The application by Argentine was rejected as well - because of the violation of human rights. But the same UN accepted the application by Turkey... Turkey is at the top concerning the violation of human rights. Turkey conducts - without asking anybody - military operations in Iraq. This was all known to the UN when they took their decision in 1992. The state terror doesn't fit in with the principles of Habitat, albeit that these principles are just principles on paper. But the UN are very content with their decision. We aren't in the least surprised that Habitat II is being held in Turkey, of all places. The UN, that's the "War Council" of imperialism which let the Iraqi people bleed, which looked at the peoples in Bosnia bleeding to death... This has merely been a decision by imperialism. THE HABITAT CONFERENCE WILL NOT TAKE DECISIONS WHICH ARE IN THE INTEREST OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD One look at the reality in Turkey is enough to know that this Habitat Conference will not take one decision in the interest of the peoples. This Habitat II, called "City Conference" will not even discuss the problems of our peoples, let alone that they are looking for solutions. The forced eviction of villages in Turkey and the misery of city-building are concrete indications for this. What kind of housing problems are those people talking about, those people who destroyed more than 3.000 villages until now? About what city-planning, what kind of housing problems, what locations of housing is this state talking about, a state which forcibly expelled 3 million Kurds, which only increased unemployment and poverty and which made the cities uninhabitable? What kind of policy of city-building have they conducted until now? How can one ever believe that things will improve from now on? In this matter the marks of the imperialists and Turkey are bad ones. About which human rights will Turkey, on top in violating human rights, and the imperialists, with their endless list of crimes. talk about in this conference in Istanbul? To talk about human rights in a country where more than 400 people "disappeared", a country with systematic torture and other forms of violations of human rights, that's a enormous swindle. Today, the day the Habitat Conference was opened, the hungerstrikes of the political prisoners against the "May 6 decision" (the first step of the aggression policy of the peoples' enemy, professional torturer and minister of Justice Mehmet Agar) have spread across the whole country. Why don't the people in the conference halls who talk sanctimoniously about human rights, why don't they see these hungerstrikes of 1.500 prisoners? Don't they know that the present policy of the Turkish government will result in new dead people in the prisons? Of course they know, they only know too well. But they don't give a damn. They only care about taking the necessary decisions to let the "New World Order" function, and to impose these decisions upon the peoples. The imperialists and the fascist state in our country, controlled by the imperialists, who are responsible for the pollution and destruction of the environment, can not discuss the environmental problems at all. They are guilty in this matter as well. About which health question are the imperialists talking, the imperialists who after the Gulf War proclaimed an embargo to deny medicines for the children in Iraq? About which health question is the Turkish government talking, a government responsible for the death and life-long disability of children because of the unhealthy living conditions? Today hundreds of people die in the hospitals, millions of people become disabled, because the state doesn't care. Don't the people who spent trillions of lira for the Habitat Conference and the renovation of the neighbouring streets know that this money was wasted, just to present a nice picture to the representatives of the imperialists and the media? Don't they know that Turkey doesn't exist of the conference area in Macka alone? In Istanbul, a place where 12 million are living, there are the conference area and the luxurious neighbourhoods, but there are the neighbourhoods for the poor people as well. In this one city, there are two worlds and two kinds of life. Did this state, which chased the street vendors out of Taksim, which closed all the cafes and shops in the conference area, except for the luxurious hotels and the luxurious restaurants, did this state solve the problems of the people? So how can they talk about these problems on Habitat now? The revolutionaries, patriots, democrats and neutrals must not have themselves misled by this Habitat Conference. They only represent the reality of the "New World Order". They must support the continuing resistance of the political prisoners. The ANAYOL-government (ANAP and DYP), its contra-guerrilla minister of Justice Mehmet Agar, and the imperialists are responsible for all the crimes which are committed against the political prisoners. ----- From: "DHKC informationbureau Amsterdam" Date: Sat, 8 Jun 1996 14:51:56 +0000 Subject: DAILY EVENTS HUNGERSTRIKE IN TURKEY ----- THE HUNGER STRIKE OF THE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN TURKEY: DAILY EVENTS June 6, 1996: Eskisehir. Students and youth from TODEF, Ozgur Genclik, YDG and Yutsever Genclik, together with members from the Socialist Journalist Platform and the TSIP, ODP and EP began a solidarity hungerstrike inside the bureau of the EP. Solidarity messages: 0090-222 221 2814 June 7, 1996: Relatives of the political prisoners wanted to organise a press-conference in front of Sagmalcilar-prison in Istanbul. The press-conference was scheduled for 11 a.m. but the police banned the conference and from 7.30 a.m. the police was present in the area and they surrounded the prison. They also started to search the people in the metro station of Bayrampasa and arrested more than 40 people. Among them were Oya Gokbayrak from the Freedom and Rights Platform, Guzel Sahin, Mustecep Batu, Naciye Ceylan, Mehmet Soylu, Fatma Hambayat and Selvi Gulmez from the Solidarity Platform of Relatives of Revolutionary Prisoners (DETUDAP), and members from several unions from DISK (Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions) like Genel-Is (General Union), Hava-Is (Airport Workers Union), Deri-Is (Leather Industry Workers), Nakliyat-Is (Transport Union), Tez Koop-Is (Food Industry Union) and Belediye-Is (Municipal Workers Union). Sirkeci-Istanbul. Members from the IHD (Human Rights Association), CHD (Contemporary Lawyers Association), TOHAV, DETUDAP and other democratic organisations wanted to stage a press-conference in front of the post-office and send a telegram to prime-minister Mesut Yilmaz. However, the police surrounded the area and several people were arrested, such as Ercan Kanar (chairman of the IHD-Istanbul), Zeynep Baran (board member of the IHD), the lawyer Mustafa Ucdere (chairman of the CHD-Istanbul), the lawyer Ayhan Erhan (CHD) and the artist Suna Aras. After these arrests, the relatives went to Taksim-square to continue their protest against the repression against the prisoners and to voice their protest against Habitat II as well. Again the police attacked the relatives and 15 people were arrested. Among them were Huseyin Yalcinkaya, Turkan Coban, Sehriban Tufan, Arzu Baysungur, Baris Yildirim, Gulsah Karadag and Doga Aciker. ----- REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT, EUROPEAN REPRESENTATION ----- Visit HTTP://WWW.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk For regular news and information about the classwar in Turkey and Kurdistan ***** Date: Thu, 6 Jun 96 15:08:59 -0701 From: American Kurdish Information Network Subject: Kani Xulam Free On Bail, Back At Work In Washington _____ AMERICAN KURDISH INFORMATION NETWORK (AKIN) Press Release #9 June 3, 1996 Kani Xulam Free On Bail, Back At Work In Washington, D.C. On April 12, 1996, Kani Xulam, Director of the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), was arrested by armed U.S. federal agents in Washington, D.C. Mr. Xulam was charged in federal court with having acquired a United States passport in 1986 using an assumed name. He was also charged by the Immunization and Naturalization Service (INS) with having overstayed a visitors visa after entering the United States in 1985. During the arrest, federal agents raided Xulam's home and the offices of AKIN, seizing computers, video tapes, and documents, all materials related to Mr. Xulam's human rights efforts on behalf of the Kurds. The Department of Justice initially took the position that Mr. Xulam should be held without bail since he was allegedly linked to unidentified "terrorist" groups operating on behalf of the Kurds of Turkey. Kani was held without bail for approximately 40 days, often detained in solitary confinement, before being transferred to Los Angeles, California where the criminal charge was filed. Following his arrest, the United States Department of Justice convinced a federal court judge in Washington, D.C. that Mr. Xulam should be held without bail on the criminal charge of passport fraud. On May 14, 1996, a federal appeals court in Washington, in response to an emergency petition filed by attorney Daniel Alcorn, overturned the decision to hold Mr. Xulam without bail and ordered that his eligibility for release on bail be reconsidered by the lower court. By the time the appeals court ruling was issued, Mr. Xulam had been transferred to Los Angeles. On May 15, 1996, Mr. Xulam, now represented by Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Peter A. Schey, President of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, was ordered released on $50,000 bail by a Los Angeles federal magistrate. Under the terms of his release, Kani is permitted to travel throughout the United States and continue his work on behalf of AKIN. Mr. Xulam was then transferred to the custody of the INS. On May 20, 1996, the INS agreed to release Mr. Xulam without bail on his own recognizance, pending the outcome of his deportation hearing. Shortly before his release by the INS, Mr. Xulam presented an application for political asylum, claiming that as a result of his political and human rights work on behalf of the Kurds and his efforts to stop U.S. arms sales to Turkey, he would face persecution, torture, and possibly death if forcibly returned to Turkey. That application is now pending before the INS with a decision expected in the next several months. In a statement released today, attorney Peter A. Schey stated: "We believe that the United States government's criminal and deportation charges against Kani Xulam are politically motivated and were encouraged by the government of Turkey. The United States government is more concerned with its strategic relations with the undemocratic government of Turkey than with the human and democratic rights of the Kurds. Mr. Xulam and the American Kurdish Information Network are dedicated to reaching a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Turkey, a war which today continues to result in the burning of Kurdish villages in southeastern Turkey, the massive displacement of Kurdish refugees, and the persecution of Kurds seeking democratic reforms." ----- For more information, contact: American Kurdish Information Network, (202) 483-6444 Peter A. Schey, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, (213) 388-8693, ext. 104 ----- American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) 2623 Connecticut Avenue NW #1 Washington, DC 20008-1522 Tel: (202) 483-6444 Fax: (202) 483-6476 E-mail: akin@kurdish.org Web: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~akin "The American Kurdish Information Network provides a public service to foster Kurdish-American understanding and friendship." ***** From: afn@afn.knooppunt.be (AntiFa Netwerk) Date: Sat, 8 Jun 96 22:29:06 +0100 Subject: Vlaams Blok, Flemish fascist party has a new leader ----- As of today, 8 June 96, the Flemish fascist party has a new leader. Karel Dillen, the party's lifetime leader, resigned because of his age (age 70) and because of open confrontations between fraction leaders, Philip Dewinter and Gerolf Annemans, over who should be the next leader of the 'Vlaams Blok' (Flemish Block - VB). Dillen, a sitting VB representative in the European Parliament, appointed Frank Vanhecke (age 37), another VB representative in the Euro-Parliament, as the party's new leader. Franck Vanhecke is a friend and confidant of Philip Dewinter; he completly supports Dewinter's confrontational and racist line. He is a hardliner. With the appointment of Vanhecke, it seems that the Dewinter fraction is stronger than ever. ----- /---------------------------------------------------------------\ afn@afn.knooppunt.be Anti-Fascistisch Netwerk -> Antifa maillist Webside: www.knooppunt.be/~afn Postbus 66 te B-2620 Hemiksem Belgi \---------------------------------------------------------------/ {Editor's Note: The Vlaams Blok is a direct descendent of the pre-war fascist movement in Belgium; members were political collaborators with the Nazi occupation regime. Although a legal political organization with members in the Belgian and European Parliaments, some VB members have been associated with the notorious Vlaamse Militanten Orde (VMO), founded by ex-Nazi collaborators in 1949. The VMO, outlawed during the 1980s because of their violent attacks against political opponents and immigrants, have ties to Nazi terror networks spanning the continent, including the Turkish Grey Wolves, the French Federation d'Action Nationale et Europeene (FANE), the Italian Ordine Nuovo, and Loyalist paramilitary death squads in Northern Ireland.} ***** Date: Fri, 7 Jun 96 04:54:14 -0700 From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Action Against Swedish Neo-Nazis ----- ACTION AGAINST SWEDISH NEO-NAZIS (Over the last few weeks we've ran into a number of problems with posting material to ATS-L. The statement below was "misplaced" and as a result it's a bit old. Also we're not responsible for the translation or end comment. Attack The Nazis Everywhere! - Arm The Spirit, June 7, 1996) The following is a translation of a statement to the press delivered by Birkastadens Antifa, a militant antifascist group in Stockholm, Sweden. Everything in [brackets] are the translator's notes. ----- STATEMENT TO THE PRESS On the night between the 24th and the 25th of March 1996 a shop on Tomtebogatan 44 [in Stockholm] was attacked. The windows and the protective glass inside were broken by stones an sledgehammers and teargas and butyric acid was then thrown inside. The shop intends to sell Nazi propaganda and also serves as a meeting place for Nazi groups such as for example SUNS (Stockholms Unga National Socialister, Young National Socialists in Stockholm) and Nationella Alliansen (The National Alliance). We refuse to tolerate the fact that fascist groupings are allowed to spread their shit and work unhindered in our city. We have decided to use these methods as it is impossible to fight fascism with silence. It has also proven to be insufficient to oppose it only ideologically. A physical resistance is necessary. It is important to stop fascist groupings from establishing permanent places to run their activities from. The shop premises are owned by the tenant-owners' society Kadetten 22. They are by now well aware of who they rented the shop to. There is a difference between tenants and tenants. By letting a shop to fascists you become partly responsible for the growth of the fascist movement. This is something we don't accept! Kadetten 22 can now choose to continue to rent their shop to fascists, but will then have to face the consequences. They also have the choice to take a stand against fascism and evict the ones renting the space. We will not cease damaging the shop until the fascists are gone. To the Nazis we say: View this as a minor warning! To Kadetten 22 we say: Choose sides! Evict the Nazi swines! To all fighting antifascists we say: The struggle continues! Birkastadens Antifa Comment: When the shop was attacked there were around six Nazis in it. They constitute the so-called "Aryan elite" and fled in panic into one of the back rooms. According to some reports Christopher "Criss" Rangne [leader of the National Alliance] got teargas in his face and his dog Storm [also the name of a Nazi publication] got butyric acid in its fur. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats@etext.org WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ***** Date: Sat, 8 Jun 1996 08:15:16 -0700 (PDT) X-within-URL: http://www.infi.net/thestate/topnews.html ----- South Carolina's Newspaper, The State Web Edition CHURCH TARGETS KLAN PURSE Lawsuit Claims Group Encouraged Arsonists By DOUGLAS PARDUE, Staff Writer A small black church that was destroyed by arson last year is fighting back against the Ku Klux Klan. Using one of the most effective weapons against the organization, Macedonia Baptist Church in Clarendon County is going after the Klan's money. Similar tactics have shut down Klan chapters in other Southern states. The church filed a suit Friday in state court in Clarendon County with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which used a lawsuit to drive a Klan organization in Alabama out of operation several years ago. Friday, Morris Dees, founder and chief trial lawyer for the center, urged the governors of eight Southern states where 24 black churches have burned since January 1995 to take a strong stand against the fires and set up reward funds offering $100,000 for information leading to convictions. Gov. David Beasley of South Carolina is the only one who has taken such a stand and set up a reward fund. Beasley is seeking $50,000 in private donations. Friday, NationsBank contributed $10,000. In the Clarendon County suit, Macedonia Baptist accuses Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan chapters in South Carolina and North Carolina of conspiracy to encourage members to burn Macedonia and Mount Zion AME church in nearby Greeleyville. The suit says the Klan used "disparaging and inflammatory statements about black churches" at rallies shortly before the fires, and encouraged members "to commit acts of violence and intimidation against African-Americans." As a result, the suit says, Klan members Timothy Welch, 23, and Christopher Gary Cox, 22, set fire to the churches on successive June nights last year. Welch and Cox were charged with arson shortly after the fires and are in custody awaiting trial. They and the Klan also are targets of a federal and state conspiracy and civil rights violations investigation. In an interview in May, Arthur Haley, 52, a former Klan member who attended Clarendon County Klan rallies before the fires, said "the Klan never told these boys to go burn down churches." Haley said, however, that "speakers get up and tell what these churches are for -- propaganda and how to get free stuff. A weak-minded person might think what they should do is go out and burn down a church." Macedonia's suit calls for compensatory and punitive damages in an amount "to deter others from engaging in such acts." It is doubtful that either of the Klan chapters has much money, authorities say. The South Carolina chapter is headed by Grand Dragon Horace King, who lives on Skeeter Ridge amid the scrub pines and sand hills of rural Lexington County. The front yard of his small home is decorated with a robed Klansman statue. The side yard is a large field where King holds Klan rallies. Three 10-foot-tall charred crosses stand at one end. "We don't burn crosses. We light them," he said in a recent interview. "They're not supposed to burn down. When you burn something you destroy it. We're not out to destroy America. We're out to save it." He said that is why he does not condone the burnings of any churches. "The Klan is not for violence. It's for racial separation." He said he was in Clarendon County on several occasions last year to hold Klan rallies and cross lightings to build membership. "We're growing," he said, but he would not give membership figures. "That's part of the secret." He denied any involvement in or encouragement of the Macedonia and Mount Zion fires. "Heaven knows I'm innocent," he said. "What I do I try to do within the law." He wouldn't say whether the two men accused of the burnings are members, but said violent people could be in any organization. Just because one of them had a Klan membership card doesn't mean he is an active member, King said. "Ninty percent of the people when they drop out, we never get the card back. That card is going to wind up in somebody else's hands or whatever." Federal authorities and private organizations that monitor hate groups say Klan membership has virtually disappeared. Virgil Griffin, founder and Imperial Wizard of the Christian Knights in North Carolina, could not be reached for comment Friday, but at a recent Klan rally in Lexington County he said he, too, opposes violence and church burnings. "I don't hate anyone," he said. Since 1991, 29 church fires in South Carolina have been classified as arson or suspicious by the State Law Enforcement Division. Eighteen of those were black churches. SLED has made arrests in 13 of the fires. ***** From: AOLNewsProfiles@aol.net ----- ROW AS BAVARIA DEMANDS WOMEN GIVE REASONS FOR ABORTIONS Date: 96-06-04 16:09:11 EDT By Andrew Gray BONN, June 4 (Reuter) - A German government minister blasted Catholic Bavaria on Tuesday for demanding pregnant women explain why they want abortions, reviving a politically-sensitive issue. Justice Minister Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig said Bavaria was trying to change the law on termination of pregancy, a year after the federal parliament approved a compromise measure. His criticism of the conservative state threatened a fresh chapter in 20 years of abortion controversy, less than a year after politicians hoped they had finally settled the issue. Bavaria's draft bill makes it compulsory for a woman to say why she wants an abortion before she can obtain official approval. Schmidt-Jortzig said this contravened the constitution and would be challenged in court if it became law. His view contrasted sharply with that of Family Affairs Minister Claudia Nolte, a fierce defender of the unborn child. ``Bavaria is trying to introduce an element of compulsion, if only an indirect one, which is not present in the federal law,'' Schmidt-Jortzig said. ``Bavaria is violating the constitution.'' Germany's parliament passed a measure last June midway between west Germany's restrictive practice and abortion-on-demand in force in communist East Germany. ``You can think what you like about the law on abortion,'' Schmidt-Jortzig told the Tageszeitung daily. ``For some it doesn't go far enough while for others it goes too far. But with that law, a compromise was reached.'' Bavaria, ruled by the arch-conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), was one of those which felt the new law was too liberal. But Schmidt-Jortzig said Bavaria could not draw up a new law simply because it did not like the old one. The constitution stipulates the states must follow Bonn's lead, he said. Asked what would happen if Bavaria passed the bill, he said: ``The one-third of members of parliament required to lodge a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court will do so.'' Just a day earlier, Nolte told the daily Die Welt: ``I don't share the apprehension about the Bavarian bill.'' She said the bill was just focusing on a point which was already a normal part of any counselling session. Under the current law, abortion is officially illegal but permitted in the first three months of pregnancy if a woman first seeks counselling. A doctor can only perform an abortion on a woman who has a certificate saying she has been counselled. The Bavarian bill, which is due to receive its first reading in the state assembly next week, would make it impossible for a woman to receive that certificate unless she gives a counsellor a reason for wanting to terminate the pregnancy. Bavaria's Social Affairs Minister Barbara Stamm defended the plan, saying a woman had to tell her counsellor why she wanted an abortion to make sure she got any medical help she needed. The bill was designed to ensure ``the counselling service is also a protection service,'' Stamm told ZDF television. ``The reasons will not be scrutinised or checked.'' REUTER ***** http://www.yahoo.com/text/headlines/960607/international/stories/ ----- Reuters New Media Friday June 7 5:16 PM EDT SS OFFICER LEAPS FROM BALCONY TRIAL WITNESS: ``STRESS MADE ME FLEE'' ROME (Reuter) - An 84-year-old former SS major said on Friday that a ``rush of blood to the head'' had spurred him to leap from a hotel balcony to avoid testifying against a fellow ex-Nazi in a sensational war crimes trial. Karl Hass, who had been due to testify on Friday in the trial of ex-Nazi captain Erich Priebke, was instead taken to hospital with a fractured pelvis and compressed vertebrae. Antonio Intelisano, the trial's military prosecutor, said after visiting Hass in a Rome military hospital that the German had blamed his attempted dawn get-away on ``stress'' but was willing to testify on Wednesday. ``I found Hass in good shape, apart from the injuries. He said his decision to try to flee was provoked by heavy stress,'' Intelisano was quoted as telling Italian news agency ANSA. He quoted Hass as saying: ``My attempted escape? A rush of blood to the head, a silly reaction brought on by heavy emotional pressure.'' The prosecutor added that, ``had Hass not wanted to testify, he could have gone straight home through the front door...There are no restrictions on his freedom.'' Intelisano said Hass left his Rome hotel room two floors above ground level just after dawn and had been trying to leave the building via a balcony on the floor below when he fell a few metres (feet) onto flower pots. His jacket was left dangling. The escape bid was Hass's second recent mysterious action. The German, long presumed dead, had recently fled his north Italian home to Switzerland but was persuaded by Intelisano to come back to testify against Priebke. He flew to Rome on Thursday and was questioned by the prosecutor until just before 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Priebke, 82, is charged with being a chief organiser of Italy's worst wartime atrocity, the Ardeatine Caves massacre. Occupying Nazi forces rounded up 335 men and boys, carted them off to the caves outside Rome, and shot them one by one in the back of the neck in reprisal for the killing of 33 German soldiers by partisans in 1944. Hass has denied any involvement in the massacre but Priebke's lawyer, Velio Di Rezze, presented to the court documents which he said proved Hass was a main participant. ``Perhaps he realised he was digging his own grave,'' said Di Rezze, attempting to explain the escape bid. Priebke appeared bewildered as Di Rezze whispered what had happened. ``He's crazy,'' Priebke was heard telling Di Rezze at the end of the hearing. ``There was no need to jump.'' ``Maybe he (Hass) wanted to escape ultimatley being charged with the same things as Priebke,'' said Paola Severino, a lawyer for the civil plaintiffs. Priebke, who was extradited last year from Argentina where he had lived openly for nearly 50 years working as a hotelier, has said that he and Hass met in Italy in the 1970s. Di Rezze presented to the court a transcript of the first interrogation of Herbert Kappler, the Gestapo chief in Rome, on the massacre, saying he intended to prove Hass's unreliability as a witness. ``It relates to the Ardeatine Caves from A to Z and the officers who took part,'' said Di Rezze, adding that Hass was top of the list. Reuters Limited ***** Date: Sat, 8 Jun 1996 15:11:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Witanek Subject: Turning The Tide Going to Print Posted: mnovick@laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us (Michael Novick) ----- We are going to press Monday with the new issue of Turning the Tide, the journal of anti-racist activism, research and education. It features research and analysis on the campaign of arsons against southern Black churches, an updated look at the tie in between the Olympics and the national security police state apparatus, concentrating on Atlanta 1996, a calendar of events through the summer in L.A. and nationally, a memorial to Michael Taylor, an in-depth study of the Neo-Confederate movement, a look at the struggle in the Dominican Republic by a member of PART currently on a protracted stay in his Domincan homeland, updates on Mumia, anti-immigrant hysteria, cops and the klan, and anti-Asian violence, extensive material on political prisoners and P.O.W.'s, letters, and lots more. TTT has been coming out for nine years as a grassroots, independent voice of anti-racism, anti-imperialist activism and analysis from People Against Racist Terror, a non-sectarian organizing project in southern California. It relies entirely on its readers for its support. Sample copies are $4, one year (four issue) subscriptions are $15, preferably by postal money order to PART, PO Box 1055, Culver City CA 90232-1055. Bulk orders (5 copies for $5) are available to movement activists. Bookstores can order at ordinary discounts with affidavit return either directly from PART or through some national 'zine distributors. Please note that's a new address above, and update your records accordingly. We are still at 310-288-5003 [voice-mail] or mnovickttt@igc.org [e-mail] (note that igc has dropped the "apc" from its e-address). * * * * * Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights (BACORR) 750 La Playa # 730 San Francisco, California 94121 Voice: (415) 437-4032 E-Mail: On PeaceNet visit BACORR's conference. For subscription information e-mail Wendi Jones, On PeaceNet visit ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN on or by gopher --> gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7021/11/europe BACORR text files can also be found on the following sites: Arm The Spirit WWW:gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/BACORR FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/BACORR FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/Antifa/Antifa.Info-Bulletin Institute For Alternative Journalism (AlterNet) http://www.alternet.org/an/demworks/html gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:70/00/orgs/alternet ***************************************************************** BACORR: DEFENDING CLINICS, EXPOSING TERRORISM -- BECAUSE NO ONE'S GONNA DO IT FOR US! ***************************************************************** ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++ ++++ see: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++