European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Updates charges dropped new York a covenant i Louse founder the Rev. Bruce Ritter has been cleared of criminal charges according to a published report thursday attorney general Robert Abrams is concluding a nine month investigation of charges of sexual and financial misconduct including an allegation that Ritter spent More than $20,000 on a male a prostitute. Tim Gills a spokesman for the attorney general told the new York Post in thursdays editions a there Are some questionable financial transactions. But we did not find anything that would constitute theft or larceny or criminal  Edward Barbini another Abrams spokesman said Abrams has pressed for reforms to ensure the shelters stability a while also protecting the interest of people who donate Money to covenant  havoc in plane Boston univ i a a Man pleaded guilty wednesday to charges he wreaked havoc aboard an airborne British airways plane assaulting some Crew members and threatening to kill the Captain officials said. John Holden 32, of new Bedford came close to shutting Down an engine while the Jet was 40,000 feet in the air at one Point during the nov. 29, 1989, incident said . Attorney Wayne Budd. Holden pleaded guilty in . District court in Boston to charges stemming from the disturbance aboard British airways flight 215. The plane was carrying 221 passengers and 21 Crew members to Boston from London a Heathrow Airport when the incident occurred. Prosecutors told judge Joseph Tauro that Holden verbally physically and sexually assaulted flight attendants aboard the Jet and at one Point entered the flight deck threatening to kill the Captain. Tauro ordered Holden to be held pending sentencing. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Surplus sales Forth West Germany a television sets stereos and automobiles will be the featured items at a Furth demo auction scheduled for next thursday. Other merchandise up for bid includes typewriters sleeping bags and assorted clothing. The auction will take place at building 946 at Johnson Barracks at 9 . Bidder registration begins at 7 30 ., and the auction is open to the Public. Pre inspection runs monday through wednesday from 8 . To noon and 1 . To 3 . Customers May also View property during the registration period. Both dollars and Marks will be accepted and customers will have eight working Days to remove their purchases. Soviet legislators of Law to end religious repression Moscow api a the soviet parliament has formally ended decades of religious repression by giving overwhelming initial approval to a Law on Freedom of conscience. The move by the supreme soviet comes at a time when soviets Are flocking to churches in record numbers. A your people suffered to get this Law a said Mikhail Kulakov a Leader of the soviet unions seventh Day adventists who have been persecuted for evangelical activities. The Law forbids the government from interfering with religious activities improves the Legal status of religious organizations and gives soviet citizens the right to study religion in Homes and in private schools. The soviet Constitution has Long guaranteed Freedom of worship but in the past the communist party a ideological opposition to religion As the a opiate of the masses made that guarantee hollow. In practice the government discouraged religious services closed churches and synagogues imprisoned religious leaders and preached atheism. A the most important thing for us is not Only that the Law is passed but that it begins to work a said Moscow a chief rabbi Adolph Shayevich after the wednesday vote in the supreme soviet. Peter Reddaway an expert on soviet religion at George Washington University in Washington said Western experts estimate that a Quarter of the 285 million people in the soviet Union practice religion and the number is rising fast. Among signs of religious revival Are increasing numbers of seminarians and the reopening of churches that were used As storehouses garages and even factories. Three years ago president Mikhail Gorbachev held talks with the head of the russian orthodox Church the first such meeting in More than 40 years. In december he met Pope John Paul ii at the Vati can. Bibles Are no longer confiscated at soviet Borders Holiday Church services Are shown on television and religious publications Are flourishing. On sunday a divine Liturgy was held in the Kremlin a Uspensky Cathedral the first full service allowed in the important Cathedral since 1918. Jews Are also enjoying greater religious autonomy including Freedom to study hebrew which previously had been suppressed. The ukrainian Catholic Church outlawed by Josef Stalin in 1947, has come out from underground and reclaimed some of its property. Under the new Law it can apply to local authorities to regain lawful status. In soviet Central Asia where moslem predominate attendance at mosques has risen and copies of the Koran Are in heavy demand. 3 the new Law which passed 341-1 with one abstention says the government will not a restrict the study financing or propagandizing of religion. It was not a Roll Call vote and the identity of the person who abstained was not known. Atheism remains the doctrine of the communist party but the Law prohibits the government from funding either religious activities or atheist propaganda. It allows religious groups to set up societies and Send people abroad for spiritual study. In the past religious organizations had no Clear Legal standing and were unable to make contracts or represent themselves in court. Under the new Law they have the same status As individual citizens. But a clause allowing Public schools to be used for religious classes after regular hours set off a fierce debate and was Defeated by one chamber of the parliament. Although the Bill was easily passed into Law a legislative committee is scheduled to go into session monday to Settle provisions still in dispute principally the Public school Issue and taxation of donations to religious organizations. Mohawk  standoff ends but Brawl Breaks out at Bridge Oka Quebec apr an 11-week standoff Over Mohawk tribal lands and sovereignty ended in a Brawl As warriors Laid Down their weapons and left a detoxification Center but resisted when soldiers tried to arrest them. About 400 mohawks who live on a nearby reservation watched wednesday nights clash on television grabbed baseball bats Lead pipes and rocks and attacked troops guarding a Bridge that links their Community with Montreal. A Soldier suffered facial injuries in the Mercier Bridge incident which ended after soldiers trained rifles on the protesters threatening to shoot. Only minor injuries were reported in the earlier Brawl at Oka which began after some of the More than 50 militants who had been holed up for a month at the drug and alcohol treatment Center tried to push past troops. The warriors at the Indian settlement 18 Miles West of Montreal had agreed to end the standoff peacefully but after leaving the Center Many tried to evade soldiers and pass through barbed wire barricades. Brawls broke out when soldiers a some with fixed bayonets a seized warriors and women and children accompanying them. Police arrested sue mohawks outside  lines on unspecified charges and a seventh for obstructing officers. Three warriors were arrested and placed in provincial police custody. At least 50 mohawks were in  custody late wednesday and some could face charges later in connection with a prolonged Power struggle that amounted to a series of sporadic clashes. The standoff began july 11 when police tried to storm an Indian barricade outside Oka and a Quebec provincial police officer was killed. Blame has not been fixed in the officers death. The barricade put up by indians opposed to the planned Extension of a Golf course onto what they claim As tribal land was dismantled by troops last month. That s when the warriors retreated to the treatment Center. Dozens of indians troops and police have been injured in the dispute which has gripped the Canadian nation with its questions of How far the government should go in guaranteeing native rights and sovereignty. No arrests were reported at the Mercier Bridge which indians had blockaded for most of the summer in support of their Oka Brethren. At the Mercier Bridge soldiers were ordered to take  at the angry indians from the Kahn awake reservation who were showering them with rocks. The checkpoint was set up to ensure that the Bridge a a major commuting route for people who work in Montreal and live on the St. Lawrence River a Southern Bank a remains open. After the confrontation ended the mohawks milled about watching coverage of the end to the standoff at Oka on a portable Black and White television set. Jeers erupted when a television announcer said the standoff with mohawks had Cost the Quebec government $180 million. A there is no question that we have won a said Francis boots a spokesman for the Warrior society from the Akwesasne reservation South of Cornwall. A we have acquired an awareness among the Canadian Public. We can now talk without bureaucrats sweeping issues like land rights under the Rug a he said. The decision to leave the Center near Oka was made earlier wednesday. Chief negotiator Terry Doxtator had said it was made because of fear the  would withdraw and be replaced by Quebec provincial police. 2nd pizza hut in Moscow closed Down Moscow up a soviet authorities on wednesday closed Down the second new pizza hut restaurant in Moscow during a continuing dispute Over whether the two facilities have complied with focal regulations. Last thursday the local sanitary authority closed the flagship soviet pizza hut 10 Days after it opened. That restaurant was allowed to reopen on saturday. But on wednesday the other Moscow pizza hut was closed Down by the same department. The official soviet news Agency Tass quoted a sanitary inspector on tuesday As saying that pizza hut did not submit plans to the proper local department before opening and the kitchens violated several regulations including a Rule on the distance Between raw vegetables and prepared foods. 6 4 but Andrew Rafaqat Deputy director of the joint venture running the soviet pizza huts said plans had been approved by other local authorities and there were no sanitary problems. He blamed the closures on misunderstandings Between various rival local officials and a Lack of communication. A there Are so Many authorities around there was confusion Over requirements a Rafaqat said. A some of what we do does no to fall within their Rule Book. But often the rules Are ill defined and nobody Ever put the Rule Book m front of  he called allegations of unsanitary conditions a a  by by who wants to can come look at the restau a it a we ire be proud our standards a Rafaqat said. Tl0�?zus there is no Issue of standards. Unfortunate Mere Are a lot of very restrictive  j a be a the soviet regulations Are outdated a Western business such As the -5 several Large separate sinks for washing  the pizza huts Fautz Besl up Izzy hot restaurants run by a joint venture Moscow Pihur ?. Parent company Pepsico and the Moscow City Council opened sept. 12