METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE New Scotland Yard Broadway ...

METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE
New Scotland Yard
Broadway
London SWIH OBG
Our reference: CR222/92/63
Date; 15th February 1993
Dear Mr. Jennings,
A Commission Rogatoire/Letter of Judicial Assistance has been
received in this office, requesting assistance in respect of legal
proceedings now pending in Switzerland.
I would be obliged if you could contact me to arrange a
convenient appointment to discuss the matter. It would be
useful if you could furnish us with a telephone number, on
which you could be contacted between 10 am and 6 pm,
Monday to Friday.
Yours sincerely,
John Warren
Detective Sergeant
International and Organised Crime Branch

METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE
New Scotland Yard
Broadway
London SWIH OBG
Our reference: GR.22-2/93/13
Date: 24th February 1993
Mr. Vivian Gregory Simson,
Dear Mr. Simson,
I enclose a Commission Rogatoire/Letter of Judicial Assistance
issued under the Criminal Justice (International-Co-Operation)
Act 1990, by the Authorities in Switzerland. A copy of this
request has already been handed to Mr. Jennings who is also
mentioned therein and the legal position has been explained to
him.
Basically, you are invited to answer the points raised by the
Swiss, but you are not under any obligation to do so. If you
decide to make a response you may do so in the presence of,
or subject to advice by a solicitor, if you so choose.
I would be grateful if you would sign and return the receipt
enclosed, and also advise me of your decision within the next
two weeks. If you require further clarification of the matter,

please do not hesitate to contact either myself or my
colleague, Detective Constable Bennett on the above number.
Yours sincerely,
John Warren
Detective Sergeant

Canton of Vaud
Examining Magistrate
For the Canton of Vaud
To the Competent English Authorities for criminal matters
Date 23 November, 1992
Our ref. CH/132/92
LETTERS ROGATORY
STATEMENT OF FACTS
I wish to inform you that a complaint has been lodged with me
by the INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, an association
which has the status of a legal entity in Switzerland, domiciled
in Lausanne, and on whose behalf Mr Juan Antonio
SAMARANCH, President, Mr. Francois CARRARD, Managing
Director, and Mrs. Francoise ZWEIFEL, general secretary, act
and another complaint by Mr. Juan Antonio SAMARANCH
personally, for libel and possibly defamation within the meaning
of Articles 173 and 174 of the Swiss Penal Code. These
complaints are leveled against the authors of the book entitled
in English "The Lords of the Rings" and in French "Main basse
sur les J.O."
The book was published in London in April 1992 by Simon
and Schuster and distributed in a French translation Bby
Flammarion, in Paris. According to the text of the work, the
authors are Messrs. Vyv SIMSON and Andrew JENNINGS.

I have exchanged correspondence with Mr. Andrew JENNINGS.
Within the framework of international legal aid, notably in
application of the European Convention relating to legal aid in
criminal proceedings dated 20th April 1959, I would be much
obliged if you would have Mr. Vyvian Gregory SIMSON and Mr.
Andrew JENNINGS heard by the competent English authorities,
as the accused persons, and to ask them the following
questions.
1. I inform you that the INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC
COMMITTEE and Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH have lodged
complaints against you for attacking their honour, more
precisely for defamation and libel, which are violations
suppressed by Swiss law in Articles 173 and 174 of the Swiss
Penal Code because of certain passages in the book "The Lords
of the Rings" and its French translation "Main Basse sur les
J.O." (Enclosure 1).
2. Do you admit you are the authors of the book "The Lords
of the Rings"?
3. Do you admit you are responsible for the text of this
book?

4. Do you admit you are responsible for the text translated
into French of the same work? If not, to what extent do you
estimate you were badly translated?
5. I charge you with libel, subsidiarily with defamation and
hand you the text of articles 173 and 174 of the Swiss Penal
Code together with an English translation (Enclosure 2).
- What have you got to say on this subject?
6. I acquaint you with articles 104, 105, 106, 107 and 109
of the Penal Procedure Code of the Canton of Vaud. by handing
you the French and English texts (Enclosure 3).
- What have you got to say?
7 I inform you that in application of Article 48 of the
Vaudois Penal Procedure Code, you must elect domicile with a
person living in the Canton of Vaud, who will transmit to you
the summons to appear and other communications which
concern you. During the time that you have not given me the
name and address of that person, your domicile will be
deemed to have been elected at my office and you may not
avail yourselves later on of a possibility by pleading default of
formal services which should have been served on you.
- What have you to say?

8. I acquaint you with article 185a of the Penal Procedure
Code of the Canton of Vaud, by handing you the French and
English texts (Enclosure 4).
- What have you to say?
9. Have you anything else to add?
I thank the competent English authorities, in advance, for their
co-operation.
The Cantonal Examining Magistrate
Enclosures:
1/ The IOC's and Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH’S complaints
and translation.
2/ Articles 173 and 174 of the Swiss Penal Code and
Translation.
3/ Extract of the Vaudois Penal Procedure Code and
translation (104, 105, 106, 107, 109)
4/ Extract of the Vaudois Penal Procedure Code and
translation (185a)

Translation into English of the penal complaint filed on May 26,
1992 by the IOC and its President Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch.
(Page numbers refer to the French version of the book; but the
English translation is mainly using the corresponding excerpts
of the English version of the book)
INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH
Chateau de Vidy
c/o INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
1007 LAUSANNE
Monsieur le Juge d'instruction cantonal Roland CHATELAIN Rue
du Valentin 34, 1014 Lausanne
26th May 1992
Mr Roland Chatelain, Investigating Judge,
Due to the facts stated in the present letter, the International
Olympic Committee and Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch are
respectfully lodging a penal complaint by reason of a book
entitled "The Lords of the Rings, Power, Money and Drugs in
the modern Olympics" published in London in April 1992 by
Simon & Schuster, whose writers are Messrs Vyv Simson and
Andrew Jennings. This book was distributed in particular in

Switzerland in a French translation under the title "Main basse
sur les J.O" by Flammarion, Paris, the authors of the translation
being Anna Gibson and Jean Bonnefoy.
In support of the present penal complaint, we state the
following:
a) Authority to act:
1. As per article 19 of the Olympic Charter, the International
Olympic Committee (hereafter "IOC") is a non-governmental
international organisation, organised in the form of a nonprofit
making association incorporated. The IOC has been
acknowledged in this quality by Order of the Federal Counsel of
September 17th, 1981.
complaint.
The IOC has therefore the authority to lodge this penal
2. Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch intervenes here as a plaintiff
under his title of President of the IOC and as far as needed on
his own personal account where the accused book involves him
personally in charging him of adopting behaviour against the
honour and to hold in contempt the most elementary moral
values.
b) Competence of the Judge ratione loci.

3.The book of Messrs Simson and Jennings in its French
translation is distributed in particular in Lausanne. Several
buyers, including the IOC, could purchase a copy at the
department store "Innovation" or the bookshop Payot. We file
herewith an invoice dated May 26th, 1992 with respect to the
purchase of 10 copies by the IOC.
As per the precedents of the Swiss Supreme Court (ATF 102
IV 39 JT 1977 iv 2) material printed and published abroad falls
in the competence of the Swiss Courts with respect to a penal
complaint based on an offense against the honour of someone
when such printed material has been distributed in Switzerland.
In such a case, the Swiss Supreme Court has indeed considered
that the result of the offense was hence located in Switzerland.
Your competence ratione loci to open an investigation is
therefore certain.
c) The libel assertions of the writers of the accused book.
(i) Against the IOC
4. In general terms, the book's reading leads to a particularly
distasteful portrait of the IOC and of its President Mr
Samaranch. The writers have indeed proceeded in a very
insidious manner by small repeated "inferences" in several
places of the book, using parallels or comparison of facts that

are completely unjustified and scandalous aiming at the
depicting the IOC and its President Mr Samaranch in an immoral
and offensive way. We shall refer to this point further in this
complaint. However, the plain reading of the table of contents
is edifying in this respect.
5. An unprejudiced reader would conclude from reading the
book that the IOC, referred to all along as a "Club' - which
indeed it is not - is a secret, clandestine organisation, of mafia
style that would not hesitate to support fraudulent misuse of
funds particularly in favour of sponsors.
The writers have for example characterised the IOC as a
"clandestine selfish world" (P. 8), as "one of the most
secretive, powerful and lucrative interlocking societies in the
world" (p. 15). The authors go as far as comparing the IOC to
a sport's mafia "... to enable The Club, this whole mafia within
sport, to get going" (P. 69).
In order to create the "climate" of the book, the writers
have allowed ample room for suspicion, - at times very clearly
that the IOC would indulge in plots and tricks, pay bribes,
ignore its own regulations and adopt disrespectable practices,
and that, by consequence, its behaviour is completely immoral.
A few examples among many others are:
"They had little understanding of the machinations in
Lausanne" (p. 152).

"Mr Choy named a list of Olympics officials that he says have
taken bribes." (p. 178).
"If there could be anything more sordid in sport than the
"outing" of Johnson as a long-term doper then it is the
response of the IOC and the IAAF to the problem of re-
awarding the medals" (p. 253).
"Samaranch's IOC breaks many of the accepted rules of
behaviour in public life. The practice it condones during the
bidding process are discreditable and the very opposite of the
ideals of sport' (P. 335).
7. The authors of the book do not hesitate to compare the
attitude of the IOC, hypothesising on the IOC's alleged
disinterest for the future of the Olympic Movement, to the
behaviour of a third world dictatorship:
"unfortunately the leadership of the IOC appears to have
as much interest in addressing this question as a third world
dictatorship has in free election." (p. 272).
The reader inevitably draws from the book of Messrs
Simson and Jennings a picture of the IOC being at the same
time both a manipulating organisation and an organisation

manipulated by the power of money where everything is only a
matter of cheating or pulling strings.
8. The portrait depicted of the IOC by the book's authors is
of an organisation which is mainly centered on money and
whose aim is to finance, in priority, the sumptuous stays of its
93 members; the authors "forget" to specify that the members
of the IOC, who are often strongly pressed to contribute either
to the special commissions to which they belong or to the
general meetings, carry on their activity free of charge and for
the most active members, this activity draws considerable
personal sacrifices in time and money.
9. While reading the book, one immediately feels that the
members of the IOC are mainly preoccupied by their own
personal interests rather than by the interests of the Olympic
Movement.
The authors described them as:
"greedy and over indulged" (p. 312).
They class them as
"gift grabbing" (p. 345).
and even go as far as to accuse Mr Kim, member of the
Executive Board of the IOC, of being a

"combination of fighter and crook' (p. 202)
without hesitating to accuse him of penally reprehensible
behaviour without any proof to justify such a serious and
detestable incrimination. It is obvious that this offensive
criticism addressed to the members of the IOC reflects the
opinion of the authors on the organisation itself. It is at least
the impression that the reader draws from the text as a whole.
10. The scandalous assertions of the book's writers reach
their peak in the last chapter headed "Destroy the Olympics".
In particular, one can read
"World sport, our sport, is entitled to better treatment;
these so-called Olympians should be named and then evicted
from the IOC. It seems that Samaranch's policy is to keep the
lid on the depravity in his precious movement." (p. 336)
"The great boil of the IOC on our sporting body could be
lanced in weeks if we signaled to the TOP sponsors in Barcelona
that we do not approve of their dollars propping up an Olympic
movement that now bears comparison with elements of
Franco's Movimiento." (P. 346).
and again in the following excerpt, attesting to an obvious
intent to be noxious:

"As with all other Olympic Games, sessions and
congresses the Paris meeting will be sponsored by commerce.
Any company thinking of funding Samaranch's attempts to
maintain his hegemony should be told bluntly that their
products are as unsavoury as the IOC itself." (P. 348).
and finally in a passage which practically serves as a
conclusion to the book, the authors write:
"It was not a pretty sight to watch the Olympians in
Birmingham with their snouts in the overflowing trough. Much
of what we saw was offensive. If we want to reclaim our sport
from them, if we want to bring morality back into sport, then
we need to recall our IOC members and ask them to explain
what, if anything, they do for our sport." (P. 347).
This vulgar comparison leaves the reader with the final
image of IOC members compared to pigs, chiefly preoccupied in
feeding themselves.
6
(ii) Towards Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch
Messrs Simson and Jennings, in repeating misleading
statements, strive to depict Mr Samaranch as a man who.
through astute lobbying, has perverted the IOC so as to

econstruct it in his own manner an the lines of the franquist
regime.
Throughout the book the writers lead the reader to think that
Mr Samaranch has transposed to the IOC the totalitarian
principles borrowed from General Franco's regime; so, in Page
87
"Samaranch has not only re-invented himself, he has re-
fashioned the Olympic Movement in his own style of politics."
and further on
"The spirit of the Europe of the Dictators that most of us
believed had been destroyed appears to us to be alive and
prospering in Samaranch's 'bunker' overlooking Lake Leman. A
rogue survivor of that era has in our view managed to hi-jack
one of our most precious and idealistic institutions." (P. 334).
and then,
"It seems to us that Samaranch has attempted to impose
something resembling the structures of Franco's Spain upon
our Olympic movement" (P. 335).
The book's writers have also adopted a particularly ingenious
technique consisting of describing certain atrocities
perpetuated at the time of Franco to which, by adding

inferences to Mr Samaranch, they imply to the reader that Mr
Samaranch could have been directly involved in the exactions
committed against a population by certain franquist leaders,
and even by extension that Mr Samaranch could be seen as
being guilty of "war crimes'.
For example, one can mention the following excerpts from a
particularly pernicious mixture, which, when necessary, do not
hesitate to assert completely fallacious facts:
"The police opened fire, two workers were killed and twentyfive
wounded. The workers were forced back into the factories and
thousands arrested. For many of them, the strike had been a
disaster. For Samaranch is was a great success" (p. 92).
"As he prepares to make his short speech opening the Games,
Samaranch can look back on his own wealthy and successful
Life in Spain with pride. But his experience was unusual. Tens of
thousands of his fellow Spaniards were shot, tortured or jailed
by military tribunals. Why?' (P. 86).
"The assassination of Carrreo Blanco triggered a new reign of
terror. Samaranch's job was to oversee the clampdown in
Catalonia." (P. 106).
This assertion is completely erroneous.

"Fortunately, for Samaranch the spirit of the new Spain was
one of reconciliation. There would be no war crimes tribunals."
(p.108)
Mr Samaranch has never committed any crimes, "war" crimes
or others.
"The dedicated Francoist who for forty years has backed the
campaign of extermination against communists in Spain, their
jailing, torture and execution, turned a typical somersault. He
ingratiated himself at every turn" (p. 110).
12. The unsuspicious reader could, through the insidious
technique adopted by the book writers, be led to think through
the portrait of Mr Samaranch that he is an omnipotent and
dictatorial man, using the IOC in order to gratify his personal
need for power; he is suspected of being ready to use pressure
and manipulation to lead the IOC in a totalitarian and anti-
democratic manner, always with this reference to a Franquism
which he would have imposed on the Olympic Movement as an
internal method of functioning.
As an example, the following excerpts are mentioned:
"The Leader selects new IOC members and imposes them on
the movement; the leader knows best; the Leader's will is

carried out; the Leader appears at press conferences flanked
by the banners of the movement' (P- 87).
"He had learned early that a combination of censorship, bribes
and favours to journalists was essential to promote his political
career." (P. 97)
"In the back rooms of the Spanish Olympic committee, which
Samaranch had led for so many years, every old favour was
called in. His lobbying worked and the Spanish NOC decided to
ignore its own government and compete in Moscow.
Samaranch's election bandwagon was rolling again." (p. 112-
113)
"Fun it may be, profitable it has to be but ethical and
democratic - it ain't. The indictment against the two of them is
devastating. They have led the way in the auction of sport and
once- pure five rings to the highest commercial bidders." (P.
332).
"The very concept of open discussion and honest
disagreement, which lies at the heart of any genuinely
democratic organisation appears anathema to a man whose
political education came entirely under the dictatorial regime of
General Franco" (p. 290)

This assertion is purely unfounded and fallacious: there have
never been as many discussions and open debates as under Mr
Samaranch's presidency.
"Samaranch does have the power to exclude potential
troublemakers from decision making at the pinnacle of his Club.
Ambitious IOC members who hope to succeed him would be
unwise to confront him privately or publicly."" (P. 333).
The excerpts of the book given above constitute only a few of
the most stricking allegations uttered, regarding the repute
of the IOC and the honour of Mr Samaranch.
We reserve the right to draw to your attention other more
specific passages of the book during the hearings that will be
ordered.
Naturally, the undersigned are at your disposal to confirm the
content of the present complaint. We respectfully request that
you hear the Director General of the IOC and Mr Samaranch.
Enclosed to this complaint, we file a French and an English copy
of the book of Messrs Simson and Jennings, a copy of the
Olympic Charter and a copy of an invoice of May 26th, 1992.
We have instructed Mr Francois Kaiser, attorney in Lausanne,
and you will be kind enough to serve him all notifications.

(Regards).
On Behalf of the International Olympic Committee
Francois Carrard Francoise Zweifel
Director General General Secretary.
Juan Antonio Samaranch,
IOC President

Procedure
Art.104.
The accused must be provided with counsel in all cases in
which the public prosecutor takes part.
Besides these cases, he may be provided with counsel, even
against his will, when the needs of the defence require the
same, more especially for reasons concerning himself or
because of the special difficulties of the case.
Art. 105.
The accused who has not chosen counsel and who must
nevertheless be aided is provided with counsel assigned by the
court.
Unless he be relieved of his office (Art.109) counsel assigned
by the court shall continue in office up to and including appeals
to the Cantonal courts.
Art. 106.
Counsel assigned by the court shall be appointed by the
President of the court of jurisdiction. The President shall advise
counsel immediately of his appointment; he shall likewise inform
the accused and, during the investigation, the Examining
Magistrate. If the Examining Magistrate is still attending to the
case and he considers it necessary to appoint counsel assigned
by the court, he shall advise the President, who shall decide at
short notice.

Art. 107.
The accused, may, up to the opening of the trial request that
counsel be assigned to him by the court.
He shall send his request to the Examining Magistrate who shall
transmit the same immediately, together with his opinion, to
the President of the Court of Jurisdiction; he shall present the
same directly to the President when the court is already
attending to the case.
The President shall decide at short notice; Art. 106, para 1 is
applicable.
Art. 109.
The accused to whom counsel has been assigned by the court
retains at all times the right to be assisted by counsel of his
own choice.
If the accused exercises this right, counsel assigned by the
court shall be relieved of his office.

EXTRACT OF SWISS PENAL CODE
Third heading:
Breach of Honour.
Infringements upon secrecy or upon personal affairs.
Art 173.
1. Punishable Acts for Breach of Honour.
Defamation
1. He who, by addressing a third party, shall have accused
someone or thrown on that person the suspicion of having
conduct contrary to honourable behaviour, or any other act
liable to reflect on that person's reputation.
He who shall have spread such an accusation or such a
suspicion,
Shall upon complaint, be punished by imprisonment for a
maximum period of six months or a fine.
2. The accused person shall incur no penalty if he proves
that the allegations that he has made or spread are in
conformity with the truth or that he had serious reasons for
believing them to be true.

3. The accused person shall not be allowed to give proof and
he shall be liable to punishment if these allegations have been
made or spread without due regard to public interest or
without other sufficient motives, principally, with a view to
saying ill of other people, notably when they concern
someone's private or family life.
4. If the author admits the falseness of his allegations and
withdraws the same, the judge may reduce the punishment or
exempt the offender from any penalty.
Art. 174.
Defamation.
1. He who, knowing the falseness of his allegations, shall by
addressing a third party, have accused someone or thrown on
that person the suspicion of having conduct contrary to
honourable behaviour, or of any other act liable to reflect on
that person's reputation.
he who shall have spread such accusations or such suspicions
knowing them to be meaningless; shall, upon complaint,
be punished by imprisonment or a fine.
2. The punishment shall be imprisonment for at least one
month if the slanderer has, intentionally, sought to ruin the
reputation of his victim.

3. If, before the judge the offender admits the falseness of
his allegations and withdraws them, the judge may reduce the
penalty. The judge shall give the offended person official
notice of this withdrawal.

EXTRACT OF THE VAUDOIS PENAL PROCEDURE CODE AN
TRANSLATION
185 a
"Art. 185a the parties, their near relations and members of
household, their counsels, collaborators, consultants and
employees thereof, as well as experts and witnesses are
obliged to comply with the secrecy of the investigation
towards whoever does not have access to the dossier".