Sept 22nd 2002

 

 

News from Tvind Alert

Investigating the Tvind organisation and exchanging information in 50 countries

http://www.tvindalert.org.uk

No 5 Sept 22nd 2002

 

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Jes Fabricius Mller's brief information on Tvind and news update for non-Danes: http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/jesfab/abouttvind.htm#update

Friedrich Griess's German-language archive of Tvind news:
http://griess.st1.at/tvind

IICD Watch:
http://iicdwatch.bravepages.com/

 

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Top stories

 

POLICE RAID AT AMDI PETERSENS APARTMENTS
The police has got permission to search after proofs in the Tvind-case in
Florida in USA, where, among at other places, Mogens Amdi Petersen lived.

In spite of protests from the defendants, the court in Ringkbing permitted
the police to perform raids together with American officers.

The staff in the fashionable Fisher Islands Club shall hand over all
information about Amdi Petersen from 1991 until today.

According to the prosecution, the apartments were bought with money from
Tvinds humanitarian fund. Officially, the fund has allocated 440.000
dollars to an environmental project in Malaysia, but in reality, the money
was used to pay for the apartments.
(source: Danish press)

 

 

 

 

 

BOSTON  STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONSIDERS INVESTIGATION OF PLANET AID

 

The state attorney general's office has said that it is reviewing the case of a Massachusetts-based charity run by a group that is accused in Denmark of setting up charities as "front organizations" for commercial businesses.

The charity, Planet Aid, says its two area stores, which sell used clothing to benefit the homeless, don't take a profit and continue to raise substantial sums for the poor. Planet Aid, with stores in Harvard Square and on Newbury Street in Boston, is run by members of the Teachers Group, an informal network of activists that Danish prosecutors say set up a rain forest conservation project that turned out to be a commercial sawmill and funneled millions of dollars for their leaders' personal use.
(Source: Boston Globe, September 17th)

http://www.tvindalert.org.uk/newspapers/2002/boston_globe.htm

 

LETTER FROM PLANET AID US

 

Tvind Alert has received a letter, posted here below, written by Planet Aid in the United States. It was written as a reaction to an article in the magazine Smart Talk, which referred to Planet Aid  as an organisation linked to the Teachers Group and its founder Amdi Petersen, who now faces charges in Denmark for fraud and embezzlement.

In the letter Planet Aid denies any connection to Amdi Petersen whatsoever which is in contradiction with the Inditement of the Danish police and the common knowledge about the hiarchy within the Teachers Group.

(Source: US contacts)

http://www.tvindalert.org.uk/recycling/smart%20talk%20letter.htm

 

 

 

NEWS ON THE TRIAL OF AMDI  PETERSEN

 

As far as is known the court case against Amdi Petersen in Denmark starts on February 19th next year . Though it might be starting sooner.  This week, Thursday September 26th, there will be another hearing in the case against the Tvind-leader.   Amdi was in court last week and TV2 Denmark was able to shoot its first live pictures from Amdi Petersen after 23 years.  TV2-reporter Rasmus Tantholdt tried to talk with Amdi Petersen, asking him how it was to be back in Denmark after 23 years, but the Tvind-founder didnt answer the question and  took off.

(Source: TV2 Denmark)

 

 

Amdi Petersen has got a new defending counsel, John Kors Jensen, who has never lost a case.

(Source Berlingske Tidende, September 17th)

http://www.berlingske.dk/artikel:aid=214814/

 

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Messages/questions from readers:

 

 

DENMARK

 

A professional film maker who has just returned from Ecuador with footage of interviews with workers at the Tvind-owned Rio Culebra plantation, would like to know whether other professional TV material has already been broadcast about other Tvind properties.     Please contact the film maker through Tvind Alert

feedback@tvindalert.org.uk

 

 

BRITAIN

 

Penny from Brighton in the UK wrote to Tvind Alert inquiring about the Stoerkobenhavns International School at Nebbegaard, where her son recently became a volunteer.   The school denied being a Tvind school.   The son has now returned home.  She writes:  The school he was sent to was Stoerkobenhavns Internationale at Nebbegaard.  After we alerted him, he made discreet enquiries amongst the other volunteers.  He was told that it was no longer a Tvind school, but that was a bit odd, as on his first day there, he travelled to Juttland to the main Tvind school for Olympic-style competition.  The head teacher's name is Boerge.  A lot of the teacher still convenant to Tvind.  My son quite enjoyed his time there; he was not able to form a definite opinion as by the end of the first week, we had told him that things were a little suspect, and he agreed to come home on the following Saturday.  He made observations on the disorganisation of the staff, and the workload of the volunteers, who were nearly all Scots.  He never actually met the head teacher; his contact was a teacher called Inga, who had worked at the Red House for several years.  There seemed to be an odd relationship between the students and teachers, each party being free to swear at the other, and he noticed that some students seemed to be carrying weapons.  Whilst we feel sad that it was a lost opportunity, the uncertainty of what might have changed once he had signed up with them meant that we couldn't leave him there to find out.  He also met Ole Tarp Petersen again, who had been the initial point of contact via the advert in the paper.  He also conducted the interview in England, and offered the volunteers a job.

 

 

 

LITHUANIA

 

A man who lives in Vilnius, Lithuania, informed Tvind Alert about Humana-shops in the Lithuanian capital and the lack of press reports in the country about Tvind:

There were no reports in the press in Lithuania about Humana. I'm just wondering why?

Humana collects clothes in other countries like England, Germany, Holland and etc. They just sell them in Lithuania.

I was in one of their biggest shops in the center of Vilnius (Gediminas prospect) and all I can say the clothes , shoes, curtains and carpets are very dirty and of very low quality  (I had a big headache after my visit). Very poor people were walking around. Other Humana-shops look very bad as well. But as I can see they are buying small places for shops, not the big ones and they open them in all places around so it's becoming like a network. They are the biggest second hand clothes company in Lithuania. Everyone agrees about that here.

 

GERMANY

 

Uwe, a young German man who wanted to go to the Tvind-school in Tvind, Denmark, backed off after reading some critical reports from newspapers and magazines. He recently wrote Tvind Alert:
In 1996 I intented to join DNS in Tvind. I was fortunate enough to get a hint about an article in the Spiegel magazine. After that I started investigating about Tvind, first on the internet, then in German pedagogical magazines. I found your articles (from Michael Durham) on a CD-ROM at the British Council in Berlin. As I had passed the introductionary weekend in Tvind I asked for someone to answer a few questions. One of their teachers came and was talking about evil politicians and evil journalists, everytime I asked something. I nearly felt pity for her.   I think they can't deal with criticism at all.

 

 

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ABOUT TVIND ALERT

Tvind Alert is a voluntary set-up dedicated to investigating the international Tvind organisation and its creator, Amdi Petersen. Tvind Alert was created by journalist Michael Durham and receives no subsidy or financial support. (Some of us write books and occasional articles but believe us, investigating Tvind is not a lucrative occupation.) We welcome interesting new information and you can contact us through the website or at feedback@tvindalert.org.uk (although a personal reply cannot be guaranteed). The story of Tvind Alert can be found at:
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Han Gommeren (Netherlands) (Editor)
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feedback@tvindalert.org.uk

Tvind Alert
Investigating the Tvind organisation and exchanging information in 50 countries
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