Should Bulgarian Injustice Enter The European Community

By Richard Salbato

Soon more Eastern European Countries will be entering the European Community. The problem is that these countries have grown up in 75 years of Communism and their mentality is not European. The big difference in Communism and Western governments is that under Communism the state is always right and the people are always wrong. Justice in this way of thinking is whatever the state says it is. "There is no God." Says the state, therefore there is no god. You should work here because the state wants you to work here, therefore working here is the right thing to do no matter what you want to do.

The truth is that after 75 years of this the people began to accept it as a way of life and do not know there is a better way. Even now with free elections and some form of democracy most of these countries have elected communists to lead them. Law, justice, fairness, due process, human rights, non of these things even enter into the minds of these brainwashed people.

Now with open borders many Westerners are going East to visit and see what was closed for many years. A Vacation in the East will be half the cost of a vacation in the West. But is it the right thing to do? Is it safe? Will the West free the East or will the East harm the West?

The unbridled desire of the European Union to expand for economic and security reasons has left behind some common sense thinking. If Europe is one large united country like America under one constitution, what happens when the laws and justice of the individual states is totally different? What if Sony builds a plant in Bulgaria for the cheap labor and the government simply takes it over and makes it government owned? This is the thinking of Eastern People and they do not understand justice and freedom.

Is that even true today? The following story going on right now will show how the East thinks and why the West should not be so quick to draw these people in a common government.

Bulgarian Justice

After watching Liverpool win the Champions League final in Turkey, some Liverpool fans crossed over the Black Sea to the resort town of Varna, Bulgaria to celebrate the win. Partying went on till 5:00 in the morning and as is typical of football fans some were got very drink, loud and sometimes abusive. Somehow Liverpool fans and local Bulgarians had a conflict and as 20 year old Graham Sankey from England tells it:

"I had been drinking lager for the better part of the day. In the evening I estimate I drank nearly a full bottle of vodka and I was very, very drunk." He went on to say that three men with bottles charged at him during a 5 AM brawl on May 29. "I panicked and stupidly picked up a brick and threw it in the direction of the men running towards me. I saw the brick hit one of them."

Later that morning police came in the hotel of a different English fan was sleeping, 18 year old Michael Shields, and arrested him for Sankey's crime saying that he was recognized in the large crowd of people having been the man who threw a "slab of tile" and hit the man causing damage to his head and maybe even brain damage.

Michael Shields told how he was kicked and slapped by police, pushed into a cold shower and left to dry naked, bullied by other inmates and at one point chained to a radiator. "When I came out of the courtroom my head just exploded and someone
asked me what I felt, and I shouted 'Graham Sankey is the guilty man', I was pushed down a tunnel and the police kept kicking and slapping me and telling me to shut up, to say nothing."

Evidence from a Bulgarian night porter at the hotel revealed that he saw Michael Shields go to bed at 2:00 AM three hours before the incident. He said he was on duty the rest of the night and did not see Michael go back out. Several independent witnesses signed sworn statements supporting the fact that Shields was not in the crowd at the time.

Before the trial started Graham Sankey's lawyer faxed his confession to the courts admitting that he was the one who threw the brick and not Shields, who was not even there. In spite of this confession and witnesses proving that Shields was in bed at the time, the judge sentenced him to 15 years in jail and a 70,000 Lear fine.

The speed of the trial; the refusal of the judge to consider the confession, and other evidence makes one have to look closely at the Bulgarian Justice System.

Will The West Free Its People?

The West has a great deal of power in this situation. Europe can demand justice or refuse Bulgarian membership in the European Union. England can demand justice or cut off all trade and games with Bulgaria. The United States, who has given large foreign add dollars to Bulgaria for their economic recovery from communism, could shut this off.

The West should tell Bulgaria, and the other Eastern nations, that if their systems are not fair and open legal democracies they are not fit enough to become members of the European community. If you wish to become a member of a fair and intelligent democratic community you must first put your house in order and behave accordingly.

The Shields Case Could Open Eyes

The Bulgarian people will see in the Shields case that the West does not allow governments a free rain to do injustice. This could open there eyes to their own injustices. The people of England are organizing into pressure groups to save Michael. "People Power' is going to his defense. This campaign is gaining overwhelming support and momentum hour by hour and will soon become placed upon the door step of 10 Downing Street for the attention of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Vatican and other religious leaders of all faiths will follow their example with a campaign to free Michael. At the World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany this mouth will be thousands of flags, "Free Michael Shields" and "Michael Shields Is Innocent".

Football games all over Europe with hundreds of millions of viewers will have the same flags in the large crowds. The Newsmedia is already taking up the call to justice in England.

Freeing Michael is worth your getting involved but this can be more far reaching in that it will show the injustice of many countries around the world. Give your support and comments to www.footballgiftsuk.com reference: Michael Shields (INNOCENT) – supportshields@footballgiftsuk.com. They are organizing an International Students Peaceful Protest Day and are calling on all students throughout Europe and in particular Bulgarian students and football fans to raise awareness and support of Michael and his family. Not only must the Bulgarian citizens be made aware of this terrible injustice but they must also realize how incompetent and ignorant their government really is.

Do Not Support Injustice

We do not associate with criminals in our towns and we should not associate with criminal governments. Free people should not trade or enter into any country where injustice is prevalent. Just governments should not give financial support to governments who do not know the meaning of justice. Instead they should support the people who want to get rid of the injustice. Governments should answer to the people and not people to the governments.

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Richard Salbato is owner and publisher of Unity Publishing Inc. www.unitypublishing.com , a weekly newsletter from Fatima, Portugal. He can be reached for comment at unitypub@unitypublishing.com