Samuel Pisar, an international lawyer from the U.S. who recently pleaded successfully in Soviet courts on behalf of five Jews arrested during a Simchat Torah celebration in Moscow, believes that arbitrary acts by the Soviet authorities can now be challenged effectively in Soviet courts.
Foreign lawyers, refuseniks and other Jews can make use of the provisions of Soviet law, Pisar told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “What is needed is a certain amount of discretion, a low profile and a thorough knowledge of Soviet legal and criminal procedure,” he said.
“Cases should be fought on an individual basis. I don’t think that all can be won, but given the right men and a certain amount of determination some could be successful. By using this method, the refuseniks could start a new chapter in their relations with the Soviet Administration,” Pisar told the JTA.
The 58-year-old Polish-born Holocaust survivor and Harvard-educated jurist believes the less authoritarian policies instituted by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev makes it possible for others to achieve the same breakthrough he did.
On Simchat Torah, October 25, the Moscow synagogue was packed and thousands of Jews thronged the adjacent streets. The crowd was larger than usual because Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner, had come to celebrate the day with Soviet Jews.
INTERVENTION LEADS TO RELEASE
Shortly after 10 p.m., while the crowds were still singing traditional Hebrew songs and dancing in the streets, two police cars drove up and the police ordered the celebrants to disperse. Most did. But several resisted. Five were arrested and booked on charges of “hooliganism” and disturbing the peace, both relatively serious charges in the USSR.
The next day, a small delegation of Jews who had been at the Simchat Torah celebration, called on Pisar at his hotel and asked him to represent the five arrested men who were their relatives or friends. On Monday, October 27, Pisar appeared before the district judge in charge of the case.
He enjoyed certain advantages in that he speaks Russian fluently, is an expert on Soviet law and has close links to Armand Hammer, the American industrialist known for his traditional ties with the Soviet leadership. Only a few months earlier, Pisar had attended a Soviet-American business conference where he met Gorbachev.
Being admitted to the judge’s chambers was a feat in itself for a foreigner. Pisar said that by using a combination of legal arguments and moral persuasion, he managed to convince the judge that the crime for which the five Jews were arrested was a mere peccadillo which normally would be dismissed in any democratic court. The judge ruled that the five would have to stand trial in a police court where the sentences they risked would be relatively light.
Pisar fought that ruling as well and after meeting with the police court magistrate, managed to obtain relatively light fines for the accused who were then released.
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.
