Soviet Jewish refusenik Bezalel Shalolashvili, 22, of Tbilisi, has become the latest Prisoner of Conscience, according to the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. He was arrested March 14, accused of “draft evasion,” the SSSJ said.
Shalolashvili and his family applied to emigrate to Israel in April, 1985 and were refused last August. No reason for the denial was given. He had recently written to Soviet authorities expressing concern about being subjected to a punitive Soviet Army draft.
Meanwhile, in other news from Tbilisi, the SSSJ reported that Isai and Gregory Goldstein, refused permission to emigrate for nearly 15 years, will be allowed to leave for Israel in early April. The two brothers received exit visas after the intervention of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.).
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
