APwv 08/15 0032 Krishna Discrimination By RAY FORMANEK Jr. Associated Press Writer NEW VRI

APwv 08/15 0032 Krishna Discrimination
By RAY FORMANEK Jr. Associated Press Writer

NEW VRINDABAN, W.Va. (AP) -- The state Human Rights Commission says
it will hear a Hare Krishna devotee's complaint that Marshall County
Prosecutor Thomas White is discriminating against the religion.

"I think it's very good that this matter is being looked into,"
Umapati Swami, the Krishna minister who filed the complaint, said Friday. "I
think the people of this county ought to know the kind of people they have
in office."

The Human Rights Commission has scheduled an October hearing on the
complaint.

Umapati said he filed the complaint after his request for a state
minister's license, required to perform marriage ceremonies and other
religious duties, was delayed.

"Instead of issuing the license, the county clerk turned my
application over to the prosecutor," Umapati said. "The prosecuting attorney
does not normally get involved in such matters.

"The only reason he did is because he and the county clerk are
disciminating against my religion."

White has denied the allegations and said he is waiting for a member
of the Governing Board Commission of the International Society of Krishna
Consciousness to certify that Umapati is a minister.

But the Krishna devotee said that certification may never come
because ISKCON disassociated itself from the New Vrindaban encampment -- the
largest Krishna community in the United States -- after accusing its
spiritual leader, Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, of violating the tenets of
the religion.

"My point is that ministers of other religions are not subject to
this," Umapati said during an interview at the settlement where he is a
spiritual leader. "What right do they have to ask a totally different church
if I'm certified or not?

"We are a legally separate church and registered as such by the state."
The Human Rights Commission hearing is scheduled for Oct. 14 at the
Marshall County Courthouse, according to a letter signed by Howard D.
Kenney, the commission's executive director.

"I have received the notice of the hearing but have not had a chance
to examine it," White said. "We are continuing to review the matter."
Kenney was in Bluefield attending the state's NAACP convention and
not available for comment. According to the hearing notice, White has 10
days from the time he received the letter to respond to the charges. If no
reply is made, the allegations may be assumed to be valid.

Marshall Moss, a spokesman for the commission, said that a hearing
officer and a member of the human rights commission will hear evidence
presented at the hearing and decide whether Umapati was discriminated
against for his religious beliefs.

The commission will then decide what remedy, if any, is in order.  Moss said
that White or Umapati may appeal any decision made by the
comission to the state Supreme Court.

By RAY FORMANEK Jr. Associated Press Writer

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) -- Hare Krishna devotee Thomas Drescher says
he wasn't surprised when a Marshall County Circuit judge ordered him sent to
California to stand trial in the 1986 death of a Krishna dissident.
"It's just being done for appearances," Drescher said Thursday,
minutes after Judge Steven Narick approved a request by California
authorities to extradite him.

"Their case of religious persecution will go on no matter how many
witnesses we produce."

Narick agreed to delay Drescher's extradition until Sept. 4 to give
his attorney time to file an appeal.

"I'm disappointed," said Mark Karl, the Krishna devotee's attorney.
"But I will file an appeal with the (state) Supreme Court right away."
Drescher, 37, of Ravenna, Ohio, has been charged with one count of
murder in the May 22, 1986, shooting death of Krishna dissident Steve
Bryant. Bryant was gunned down as he sat in a van parked on an East Los
Angeles street.

Drescher, whom prosecutors describe as a fringe member of the
Krishna community of New Vrindaban, is serving a life sentence without the
possibility of parole at the West Virginia Penitentiary for an unrelated
murder.

During Thurday's 2 1/2 hour hearing, Drescher -- handcuffed to a
belly chain and clad in leg irons and a bright orange prison jump suit --
appeared relaxed.  He fingered 108 prayer beats inside a saffron-colored
prayer bag and joked occasionally with his guard.

Marshall County Prosecutor Tom White called Los Angeles Police
Detective Leroy Orozco to the stand, where the officer presented the court
with a signed statement from a rental car operator who placed Drescher in
the city near the time of Bryant's death.

In the affadavit, Gabriel Alon said Drescher called his firm on May
22, 1986, to say he had left a rental car at a parking lot at the Los
Angeles International Airport.

Alon also identified Drescher by picking his picture out of six
photos presented by investigators, Oroczo said.

Alon did not appear at the hearing because he said his business
would suffer, the Los Angeles detective said.

Karl disputed the validity of Alon's statement and said there was no
proof that the rental car operator was trustworthy. He stressed that the
statement was dated Aug. 4, 1987 -- 15 months after Bryant was slain.
"It's incredible, from my point of view, that this man would
remember an event -- the rental of a car -- 15 months after its occurence,"
Karl said.

In addition, three residents of New Vrindaban testified that
Drescher was in Columbus, Ohio, around the time of the killing.
Another devotee, Alex Georgiadis, testified that Drescher was at the
Columbus Krishna temple on May 22, 1986.

"We exchanged a few words," Georgiadis said. "I was surpised to see
him there."

"There is certainly enough evidence that Mr. Drescher was not
present in California on the date of the murder," Karl argued. He said the
statement was the only item that put Drescher in Los Angeles near the date
of the murder.

"It is at most a statement given outside the courtroom -- a
declaration, an unsworn statement," Karl said.

White countered that the statement had been given by Alon in the
presence of a police officer and under the threat of perjury.
Bryant, who was from Detroit, charged that Krishna leaders --
especially Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, the leader of New Vrindaban --
strayed from the religion's tenets, condoned violence and broke up Bryant's
marriage.  execute Bhaktipada.

Drescher was convicted last year of the 1983 murder of Charles
Saint-enis, a fringe member of New Vrindaban. The two men had a running feud
over land and money, authorities said.


APwv 08/14 0128 Drescher Hearing
By RAY FORMANEK Jr. Associated Press Writer

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) -- Hare Krishna devotee Thomas Drescher says
he wasn't surprised when a Marshall County Circuit judge ordered him sent to
California to stand trial in the 1986 death of a Krishna dissident.

"It's just being done for appearances," Drescher said Thursday,
minutes after Judge Steven Narick approved a request by California
authorities to extradite him.

"Their case of religious persecution will go on no matter how many
witnesses we produce."

Narick agreed to delay Drescher's extradition until Sept. 4 to give
his attorney time to file an appeal.

"I'm disappointed," said Mark Karl, the Krishna devotee's attorney.
"But I will file an appeal with the (state) Supreme Court right away."
Drescher, 37, of Ravenna, Ohio, has been charged with one count of
murder in the May 22, 1986, shooting death of Krishna dissident Steve
Bryant. Bryant was gunned down as he sat in a van parked on an East Los
Angeles street.

Drescher, whom prosecutors describe as a fringe member of the
Krishna community of New Vrindaban, is serving a life sentence without the
possibility of parole at the West Virginia Penitentiary for an unrelated
murder.

During Thurday's 2 1/2 hour hearing, Drescher -- handcuffed to a
belly chain and clad in leg irons and a bright orange prison jump suit --
appeared relaxed.  He fingered 108 prayer beats inside a saffron-colored
prayer bag and joked occasionally with his guard.

Marshall County Prosecutor Tom White called Los Angeles Police Detective
Leroy Orozco to the stand, where the officer presented the court with a
signed statement from a rental car operator who placed Drescher in the city
near the time of Bryant's death.

In the affadavit, Gabriel Alon said Drescher called his firm on May
22, 1986, to say he had left a rental car at a parking lot at the Los
Angeles International Airport.

Alon also identified Drescher by picking his picture out of six
photos presented by investigators, Oroczo said.
Alon did not appear at the hearing because he said his business
would suffer, the Los Angeles detective said.

Karl disputed the validity of Alon's statement and said there was no
proof that the rental car operator was trustworthy. He stressed that the
statement was dated Aug. 4, 1987 -- 15 months after Bryant was slain.
"It's incredible, from my point of view, that this man would
remember an event -- the rental of a car -- 15 months after its occurence,"
Karl said.

In addition, three residents of New Vrindaban testified that
Drescher was in Columbus, Ohio, around the time of the killing.
Another devotee, Alex Georgiadis, testified that Drescher was at the
Columbus Krishna temple on May 22, 1986.

"We exchanged a few words," Georgiadis said. "I was surpised to see
him there."

"There is certainly enough evidence that Mr. Drescher was not
present in California on the date of the murder," Karl argued. He said the
statement was the only item that put Drescher in Los Angeles near the date
of the murder.

"It is at most a statement given outside the courtroom -- a
declaration, an unsworn statement," Karl said.

White countered that the statement had been given by Alon in the presence of
Bryant, who was from Detroit, charged that Krishna leaders -- especially
Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, the leader of New Vrindaban -- strayed from
the religion's tenets, condoned violence and broke up Bryant's marriage.
He urged members of the nation's largest Krishna encampment to rebel
and execute Bhaktipada.

Drescher was convicted last year of the 1983 murder of Charles
Saint-enis, a fringe member of New Vrindaban. The two men had a running feud
over land and money, authorities said.