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SUMMER 2001 LEGAL DELEGATION VISITS MAINE Nine leading members of the Archangel Oblast legal community visited Maine from July 15, 2001 to July 22, 2001 as part of the ongoing Rule of Law Program. The delegation was composed of three judges, two prosecutors, three legislators and one law professor. The three legislators, led by the Chairman of the Archangel Regional Duma, Vitali Fortygin, spent a day observing a jury trial in Portland; toured the SAPPI paper mill in Hinckley; toured harbor Facilities and the Fish Exchange in Portland; spent half a day at Peoples Heritage Bank headquarters; and spent a day with Maine legislative executive and judicial leaders in Augusta. The judges were led by Vladimir Bounkov, the Vice Chief Judge of the Archangel Oblast and the prosecutors were led by Sergey Orekhanov, the Vice Prosecutor of the Archangel Oblast. Law Professor Tatiana Zykina, a frequent visitor to Maine, accompanied the judges and prosecutors. This group of six people spent four days observing a jury trial in Cumberland County Superior Court, touring the state and federal prosecutors' offices in Portland and meeting with two U. S. Federal Judges in Portland. They also met for several hours with the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court and several other members of the Supreme Court. Russian President Putin has mandated that jury trials in serious criminal cases should be institutionalized in the Russian Oblasts by 2005. Much of this visit was dedicated to familiarizing the Russians with all the aspects of the American jury trial process. The Archangel Region may well lead all of Russia in this area. Indeed, Judge Bounkov stated that his Region already leads Russia in the publishing of written opinions by his supreme court; he presented the first three such bound volumes to his Maine counterparts. This written opinion project is also funded through the Rule of Law Program. The delegation also enjoyed other interests here, including shopping, swimming, touring the coast of Maine, and touring New York City which culminated in a visit to the World Trade Center! Overall, the visit was very productive and the prospects for future Rule of Law initiatives and programs are great. TRANSPORTATION DELEGATION VISITS MAINE At the same time that the Archangel legal delegation was here, the Maine Department of Transportation hosted Peter Orlov, the Vice Governor of the Archangel Region, and Alexi Vereshchagin, the Archangel Oblast Road Commissioner. The two visitors focused on transportation issues including inter-model (rail/highway) facilities, road maintenance, and bridge design and construction. Vice Governor Orlov was also interested in promoting linkages between Maine and the Archangel Oblast; he visited with Governor King and discussed future cooperation and he met with one of our Committee Co-chairs and. expressed a desire to personally become more involved in the Sister City Exchange. The Transportation Exchange program will continue. CONVOY VETERANS EXCHANGE As this issue of the newsletter is printed, preparations are in high gear to send a three person delegation to Archangel in late August 2001 to participate in official ceremonies to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the first Allied merchant ship convoy into Archangel in World War II. We have selected Captain Hugh Stephens, a 1944 Arctic Convoy veteran who now lives with his wife Elizabeth in Manchester, Maine, to go to Archangel to represent Maine and the United States at this important event. Hugh and Elizabeth will be accompanied on their trip by Archangel Committee Member Natalie Petrovsky, a native Russian speaker. Our Committee has undertaken an ambitious fund raising effort to defray the costs of Hugh and Natalie's trips. Committee members Dan Glover and Dennis Marrotte worked very hard on a benefit concert at Corthell Hall at USM.'s Gorham campus on Jul 21, 2001. It was a great success: over 75 people attended the fine performance by Musica Petropolitana, a five member chamber ensemble from Saint Petersburg, Russia. We hope to receive a convoy veteran from Archangel here in Maine to help dedicate a Liberty Ship Memorial in South Portland during the weekend of October 13 and 14, 2001. ARCHANGEL TV CREW WILL VISIT MAINE A two person crew from Channel 6 in -Archangel will visit Maine September 12 to 16, 2001 as part of a 2 week visit to the United States sponsored by the Office of Broadcast Support in the US Department of State. Reporter Anastasia Skrebtsova and cameraman Andrey Korelkin will focus on social services for the poor and adoption procedures. They also will be attending the meeting of our Steering Committee on Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 5:30 p.m. at the Maine International Trade Center in Portland. A PERSONAL GLIMPSE Committee member Kim Range from National City in Michigan has traveled twice this year to the villages of the Novgorod Oblast in Russia. She spent much time with the children who proved to be excellent students of Russian and American poetry and literature. Kim writes that they "studied human rights, the environment, the Great Patriotic War, Anna Akhmatova's Courage and Victory as well as the immortal Casey at the Bat. These children will always lie in my heart as precious treasures, along with the dear Svechnova family, my kind hosts". INTERNET NEWS The Archangel Committee extends our gratitude to Great Works Internet, 9 Pomerleau Street in Biddeford, for hosting our Website. Please check out our improved Website at www.arkhangelsk.org.
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