-Caveat Lector- Note: The Guardian took this off the AP wire, yet no American sources (yet) are printing this story. Jenny Decker http://www.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/International/0,3561,1000314,00.html >From the Associated Press Head of U.S. Office in Russia Charged Friday June 22, 2001 5:40 pm MINSK, Belarus (AP) - The American director of an exchange student organization has been arrested on charges of marijuana use and possession, the Belarusian security service said Friday. Charles Daniel Perriello, the director of the Belarusian office of the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study, was arrested Thursday during an investigation into reports of illegal drug trade, the Belarusian secret service, still known as the KGB, said in a statement. Perriello was caught using marijuana at his Minsk apartment, and more marijuana was then found during a search, the KGB said. He was being held in a prison in the capital, Minsk. Perriello's organization said it was still trying to clarify the details of the case. It was working with the U.S. Embassy in Minsk to ``do everything possible to secure his release from custody,'' said the agency's regional director for ex-Soviet states and Eastern Europe, David Patton. ``We've been working with this region for 26 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened,'' Patton said. The arrest comes at a time when President Alexander Lukashenko is being vocally critical of international groups in Belarus, which he accuses of plotting against his government and supporting political opposition in Belarus' upcoming fall presidential elections. Earlier this year in Russia, American Fulbright scholar John Tobin was arrested and sentenced on marijuana charges. Tobin's case attracted wide attention after Russian security officials publicly accused the 24-year-old of being a spy-in-training. No espionage charges were filed, and Tobin has said he was framed because he refused to become a spy for Russia. Col. Fyodor Kotov, a spokesman for the Belarusian security service, said Perriello was allowed to contact the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, but it was not clear if he actually spoke to U.S. officials. Patton said Perriello was to meet in the coming days with the U.S. acting consul general. The embassy declined to comment. Perriello's organization was established in the mid-1980s to administer U.S. government-funded exchange programs for scholars from ex-Soviet states and Eastern Europe, and for U.S. scholars in the region. Perriello has been with the organization for three years. Before coming to Minsk two years ago, Perriello was based in the far-eastern Russian port of Vladivostok, Patton said. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
