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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.012 = 3 newspaper articles 1996-07-18; 1996-07-20
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Dear Reader:
Appended below are three July 18, 1996 newspaper articles
concerning Allan Rock's latest war crime victim, Wasily Bogutin,
followed by a July 19, 1996 letter to editor by Lubomyr Luciuk.
By initiating this action while a judicial review of impropriety
by personnel of the Justice Department is underway, Allan Rock is once
again compromising the integrity of Canada's justice system.
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Ottawa proceeds with case to deport suspected Nazi despite court ruling
by Stephen Bindman, Southam Newspapers
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Ottawa - The federal government has resumed its efforts to deport
suspected Nazi war criminals from Canada, accusing an elderly Toronto
man of participating in the murder of civilians during World War II.
Documents were filed yesterday in Federal Court against
87-year-old Wasily Bogutin just two weeks after three other war-crimes
cases were halted because of a "serious breach of judicial
independence".
Bogutin is accused of failing to tell Canadian immigration
officials of his participation in the execution of civilians and the
arrest of civilians for deportation to perform forced labor in Germany
while a member of a volunteer police force in Nazi-occupied Ukraine
between 1941 and 1943.
As a result, Ottawa says he was admitted to Canada and became a
citizen "by false representation or fraud or by knowingly concealing
material circumstances".
The attempt to strip war-crimes suspects of their Canadian
citizenship is the first step of a lengthy process that could lead to
deportation.
Documents filed in an earlier case say that Selidovka District
Police participated in the identification, arrest and interrogation of
suspected partisans and communist functionaries, the forcible
confinemant of civilians as hostages, the confiscation of property for
the use of German authorities and the roundup of youths to deport for
forced labor in Germany.
These activities were carried out "either in direct
collaboration with German occupying forces or independently" on orders
of the Nazis, the documents say.
Bogutin, sounding confused, refused comment yesterday. "I don't
want to say nothing. I'm sorry," he said when reached at his Toronto
home by Canadian Press. However, Bogutin told CBC-TV that the Canadian
government has the wrong man. When asked if he is a war criminal, he
said: "No, this is baloney."
Bogutin's lawyer, Orest Rudzik, said his client, who lives with
his granddaughter in Toronto, is in poor health and has difficulty
breathing. "For his benefit, the less this becomes blown into a
full-scale circus, the better it is," Rudzik said, refusing to comment
on the allegations.
This month, Justice Bud Cullen stayed denaturalization cases
against three Ontario men because of a "patently wrong" private meeting
between a senior government lawyer and the chief justice of the Federal
Court to discuss speeding up the hearings.
The March meeting between Chief Justice Julius Isaac and Ted
Thompson, assistant deputy attorney-general, has also threatened a
fourth war crimes case. Lawyers for Joseph Nemsila will argue in court
today for a similar stay of proceedings.
Ottawa is appealing Cullen's ruling and has vowed to proceed
with at least 12 cases by next April.
"This step is another illustration of our resolve to take
Canadian citizenship from these individuals and we remain committed to
moving as quickly as possible," Justice Minister Allan Rock said in a
press statement.
Bogutin is the sixth denaturalization or deportation case the
Justice Department has begun. Federal lawyers will file more specific
details of the allegations in court later this month.
Jewish groups applauded the move, coming so quickly after
Cullen's ruling. "It sounds like the classic case of a Nazi war criminal
becoming a citizen of our country by concealing his murderous past,"
said Goldie Hershon, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. "We only
hope the courts move quickly on this case. Time is running out."
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Gazette, Montreal, Thursday, July 18, 1996; Page A12
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July 18, 1996
MAN, 87, DENIES WAR CRIMES
FEDS SAY HE HELPED IN EXECUTIONS, SEEK HIS DEPORTATION
By BILL DUNPHY
Toronto Sun
A City of York grandfather branded a war criminal by the
Canadian government claims he tried to save Jews during World War II and
is half Jewish himself.
Justice department lawyers filed papers in Federal Court
yesterday seeking to strip Ukrainian-born Wasily Bogutin, 87, of his
Canadian citizenship. Spokesman Clive Doucete said the government
believes Bogutin participated in the executions and deportations of
civilians in German-occupied Ukraine between 1941 and 1943. Doucete said
Bogutin failed to tell Canadian authorities about his alleged
involvement with the war crimes and should therefore be stripped of his
citizenship and deported.
However, in an impromptu press conference in his kitchen, the
former construction worker denied helping the Nazis round up and execute
Ukrainian Jews and others. "I kill no one," he said. In broken English,
and with the help and translation of a neighbor whose husband was a
survivor of Auschwitz, Bogutin denied harming anyone.
Admitting he had worked for the Selidovka district police,
Bogutin said it was only because the chief of police was his mother's
godson and was trying to protect him. "He took me into police to protect
me, I (am) half Jewish and anyone Jewish (was) killed. The T-shirted
widower said he worked as a kind of warehouse clerk and records keeper
for the force. The widower claimed he used his position twice to try to
save Jews.
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress puts no credence
in Bogutin's claims. "These people are charged with the most serious
crimes imaginable. It is not surprising they will say anything to cast
themselves in a better light."
Bogutin's neighbor, Helen Kozlowski, whose Polish husband
survived Nazi death camps, said she found it hard to believe the
government's allegations. Bogutin is "a very good person ... who helps
everyone," she said.
[Forwarded courtesy Orest Slepokura]
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Man lied about killing Jews, Ottawa says
______________________
Federal government launches bid to strip 87-year-old Toronto resident of
citizenship
by Rudy Platiel
[The Globe and Mail, July 18, 1996]
The federal government launched an attempt yesterday to strip a Toronto
resident of his Canadian citizenship on the grounds that he lied about
his wartime involvement in the killing of Jews in German-occupied
Ukraine.
Wasily Bogutin, 87, is the sixth person to be identified from a list of
12 against whom Ottawa said in early 1995 it would be taking action.
"I don't understand nothing," Mr. Bogutin said when reached by telephone
at his home and asked whether he was aware of the charges against him.
He told the reporter to call back later.
The notice, filed in the Federal Court of Canada, says the government is
seeking to strip Mr. Bogutin of his citizenship for knowingly concealing
his membership from 1941 to 1943 in the Selidovka-district police in
Ukraine, and his participation in the executions of civilians as well as
the deportation of people to forced-labour camps in Germany.
The notice indicates that Mr. Bogutin was served with a notice in April
of the government's allegation. His lawyer, Orest Rudzik, replied in a
letter to justice officials that Mr. Bogutin wished to have the matter
referred to Federal Court.
Bernie Farber, national director of community relations for the Canadian
Jewish Congress (CJC), said Mr. Bogutin's age underscored the need to
name the remaining six people on the government's list and begin action
against them. Mr. Farber said that at the time of the announcement,
federal officials said that all 12 would be named within one year. "They
just can't spend any more time messing around. These pople have to be
named now. The sands of time are running out." Goldie Hershon, president
of the CJC, said the notice is good news but called for speedy court
action.
Ironically, it was an attempt by a federal official to speed up action
against three other Ontario men that recently led to a Federal Court
judge to dismiss the action against Johann Dueck, 76, of St. Catharines,
Erich Tobiass, 84, of Toronto, and Helmut Oberlander, 71, of Waterloo.
The three are alleged to be war criminals, but two weeks ago Mr. Justice
Bud Cullen stayed proceedings against them, ruling that the court
proceedings had been tainted by a meeting held March 1 between assistant
deputy attorney-general Ted Thompson and Chief Justice Julius Isaac of
the Federal Court.
During the meeting, Mr. Thompson complained about delays in the court
proceeedings, and warned that since the court seemed either "unable or
unwilling to proceed with the cases expeditiously," the government was
seriously considering going over its collective head to the Supreme
Court of Canada. Chief Justice Isaac reported back later the same day
that he had spoken about the matter to thge judge hearing the case at
the time. Associate Chief Justice James Jerome, who would in future give
war-crimes prosecutions the highest priority.
Also under appeal before the Federal Court is a case involving Josef
Nemsila, 83, of Oshawa. An Immigration Appeal Board adjudicator ruled a
year ago against federal attempts to have Mr. Nemsila, who is not a
Canadian citizen, deported. The adjudicator said he was protected from
deportation by an obscure 1910 law that applies to those who have had
Canadian domicile status for five years.
This past January, Ottawa launched deportation action against Antanas
Kenstavicius, 89, a blind and elderly resident of Hope, B.C. Federal
officials say he misrepresented himself in gaining resident status by
concealing his wartime activities.
Ottawa moved to the use of denaturalization proceedings after it failed
to get any convictions under Parliament's 1987 war-crimes legislation.
[Forwarded courtesy Orest Slepokura]
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>From Dr L Luciuk, on 7/19/96 11:47 AM:
To: "The Globe and Mail, Letters to the Editor"
19 July 1996
Dear Editor:
Millions of dollars have been wasted on investigating war crimes
of Second World War vintage. To date not a single alleged war criminal
has been found guilty in a Canadian criminal court. As well, there is
ample evidence to suggest a very selective bias on the part of the
Ministry of Justice's investigators, some of whom have shown little
respect for the independence of the judiciary. Time indeed for Mr Rock
to resign and for his "war crimes unit" to be disbanded. Let historians
record who the victimizers and victims of yesteryear were. History
should not be written in court rooms at the taxpayer's expense.
Yours truly,
Lubomyr Luciuk, PhD
Director of Research
Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
(613) 546-8364
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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.012 = 3 newspaper articles 1996-07-18; 1996-07-20
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