European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 a the stars and stripes sunday january 26, 1992war foe convicted of hitting . Official by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Stuttgart Germany a German District court found a Stuttgart Man guilty Friday of inflicting bodily injury and insult because he struck the . Government spokesman for Baden Wirt Temberg at a Public meeting. The blow which occurred feb. 4, punctured Sam Westgate a eardrum. Westgate who also serves As director of the local amerika Haus has since recovered. Judge Edith Stabler sentenced Yves Marie Leroy 49, a native of Paris to six months imprisonment and a 1,500-Mark $943 Fine. But Stabler suspended the prison term for three years pending Good behaviour. The slapping incident occurred during a panel discussion titled a War and the Media at a Trade Union Hall in Stuttgart. Westgate testifying Friday said the meeting became a rather Stormy As he outlined . Intentions in the persian Gulf War which had begun 18 Days earlier. After the meetings Moderator solicited questions from the audience Leroy mounted the podium raised his right Arm clouded Westgate on the left ear then walked away according to court testimony. A i saw the act relatively Well because i sat at the end of the table a said Jurgen Offenbach editor in chief of the Stutt Garter a Schrichten daily newspaper. On Friday Offenbach and several other witnesses identified Leroy As Westgate a assailant. Some said they noticed at the time that Leroy wore a hearing Aid. Leroy who also wore a hearing Aid Friday read excerpts of news reports claiming the United states and its coalition partners deliberately had falsified accounts of the origins and conduct of the persian Gulf War. He accused Westgate of complicity in an orchestrated Dis information Campaign. A to me you Are just As responsible for this crime As the . Government is a Leroy said. Defense attorney Thomas Fischer tried to cast doubt on witnesses claims that they recognized Leroy As the Man who hit Westgate. Nonetheless he and Leroy also tried to portray the slap As the plausible outgrowth of unacceptable . Policies. Westgate acknowledged in court that civilians fell victim to the coalitions attack but said that was unintentional. He also rejected the notion that he might be justifiably a target for physical attack because of his government. A i am a person. I am not a Symbol a Westgate said. District attorney Dieter Weber called for an eight month suspended prison term noting that Leroy was convicted recently of other minor offences with political overtones. Trabant replaces tank an East German trabant is lifted onto a former liberation Monument in Prague Czechoslovakia. A soviet tank used to be on top but is now in a museum. Czech employees of a French radio station Europa 2, sponsored thursdays action As part of Frances initiative to promote environmental consciousness. Leroy took pains to inject political theater and Una ugliness into the proceedings. He interrupted witnesses and court officials occasionally to make political statements. He left about a dozen crumpled Candy and gum wrappers strewn across the defense table Ana abandoned the courtroom without permission before Stabler announced the verdict and sentence. More than 50 spectators filled the Small courtroom Many of them sporting conspicuous hairstyles or clothing with protest slogans. Stabler suspended the proceedings for about 12 minutes and ordered some of them to leave after they applauded Leroy a remarks. On the Wall of parking garage across the Street from the courthouse a freshly sprayed Graffito suggested that the political motives that gave Rise to the court Case have not subsided. It said a a slap on the ear is not  Man reportedly gets aids virus during Brawl London apr a wedding guest got the aids virus from a bloody Brawl with a Gate Crasher in what is believed to be one of the first instances of aids spread by violence his doctor said Friday. Or. Nigel of Farrell said he a just knows the 47-year-old Man married for 17 years had no other risk factors for acquiring the virus. Of Farrell of Guys Hospital in London said the patient denied homosexual relations or using intravenous drugs. Two affairs prior to the fight were with women a who were not known to have any recognized risk factors a he said. The Case was reported in a letter in saturdays Issue of the lancet a British medical journal. In August 1989, the Man was involved in a fight at a wedding to oust an unwanted guest who turned out to have the aids virus. The Gate Crasher has since died. Or. Patrick Dixon of the Charity aids care and educational training said the first such documented Case was in new York where an assailant became infected after beating up a Man who had aids. Or. Richard Mcdonald of the Howard Brown memorial clinic a private aids treatment and research Center in Chicago said getting the virus after a fight does not prove cause and effect. A theoretically it could happen Quot Mcdonald said in a Telephone interview. But he added a physicians Are familiar with patients vociferously denying risk factors and then on subsequent investigation the patient admits to other  but Dixon predicted More such  deaths of women increasing Geneva apr smoking still is about five times More Likely to cause deadly cancer among men than women but the share of female victims is rising the world health organization announced on Friday. A who Survey of 32 Industrial nations said about 42 percent of annual male cancer deaths Are linked to smoking. For women the average figure was 8 percent a but  who cited France Portugal and Spain As potential a future danger  the Survey said a the very High and increasing prevalence of smoking among younger women in some of these countries Points to a major epidemic of smoking related deaths in the next few decades if current smoking patterns  in countries with High rates of lung cancer such As Belgium an average 47 percent of male cancer deaths Are caused by smoking the Survey said. Women Are most endangered in Denmark Britain and the United states who said. In those three countries an average 15 percent of All women a cancer deaths were linked to smoking. Spanish group tries to Stop youths from tossing live Golf from Tower manganese de la Polvorosa Spain apr in what has become an annual Battle animal rights activists Are trying to end the tradition of tossing a live Goat from the Village Church Tower to Honor this towns Patron Saint. Defying the threat of a 500,000-peseta-per-Goat Fine $5,000local youths said they planned to launch at least one animal saturday from the 45-foot Tower. The traditions origins Are unclear but one version has it that in times past a local priest gave his goats milk to the poor. One Day the Goat fell from the Church Belfry Only to be saved by citizens holding a Blanket below. Now teen agers in this town of 1,300 throw a Goat from the Tower trying to catch it in a Canvas stretched like a safety net. Only if the animal walks away from the fall can celebrations Start in Honor of St. Vincent the Patron Saint of manganese 36 Miles North of the provincial capital of Zamora. A the Canvas is no guarantee that the animal wont smash into the ground a said Jose Garcia Monge of the National association for the defense of animals Anda in Madrid. He said the Goat frequently misses the Tarp or Drunken youths do not hold the Canvas tightly enough to prevent injury. Anda and government officials have teamed up on a Carrot and stick approach to try to Stop the annual Goat toss. Anda offered one million pesetas $10,000 to any Spanish town that gives up rituals involving cruelty to animals while government officials in Zamora vowed to Fine anyone caught throwing a Goat from the manganese Bell Tower. Military draftees and other local youths told the Madrid daily newspaper Al sol however that they intended to go ahead with the ritual. Last year they threw two goats from the Tower and threatened to toss the mayor and Parish priest off As Well Al sol reported Friday. Animal rights activists have condemned traditional ceremonies in several Spanish towns. A a great majority of the people Are against us a said Garcia Monge