About 10,000 persons in this Purdue University town have signed a petition calling on the Soviet Union to honor its human rights obligations by permitting the emigration of three families who have been seeking exit visas without success. The petition was addressed to President Carter for transmission by him to the Soviet authorities.
The families in question are Mrs. Irina Astahkova-McClellan, wife of Woodford McClellan, a University of Virginia history professor, and their daughter; Lina and Arkad Rabinov; and Vladimir Prestin and his wife and son. The petition was drafted and circulated by the Committee on Human Rights, a group founded by the Purdue B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation.
The group was successful earlier this year in helping to secure an exit visa for Naum Salansky who was permitted to leave for Israel. A petition on Salansky’s behalf bearing 6,000 names was presented in February to Sen. Birch Bayh and Rep. Floyd Fithian with a copy addressed to President Carter. The two Indiana Congressmen presented it to the Soviet Ambassador in Washington, Anatoly F. Dobrynin, to forward to Moscow.
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