Twenty one rabbis were arrested in front of the Soviet Embassy here yesterday while protesting the plight of Soviet Jews and showing solidarity with 24 rabbis and one Lutheran minister who were arrested last month at the same Embassy.
The protest and arrest are part of an organized effort by the Soviet Jewry movement using the same techniques that have proved so successful in the anti-apartheid protests in this city at the South African Embassy.
There is, however, a bitter twist to the Soviet Embassy protest which has not marred the anti-apartheid arrests. Whereas the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has not prosecuted the South African Embassy protestors, the 24 rabbis arrested last month along with the Lutheran minister, are going on trial.
The trial, scheduled to begin today at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, was postponed at the request of the court. Evidently, when the court clerk scheduled the rabbis’ trial for this date, he did not realize its importance and scheduled 28 other cases for the judge on this date.
The attorney representing the rabbis agreed on the new trial date of September 4 and also requested two additional hearing before the trial date. At one hearing, set for July 26, the court will hear a motion filed by the defense attorney challenging the constitutionality of the D.C. law prohibiting protesting within 500 feet of an embassy.
At the second hearing, scheduled for August 6, the defense will argue to receive documents to discover why the U.S. Attorney is selectively prosecuting the Soviet protestors and not the South African protestors.
SOVIETS DEMAND PROSECUTION
Jesse Jacobs, a spokesperson for the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, said the request for prosecution of protestors violating the 500 foot boundary is at the discretion of the particular embassy which is the subject of the protest violations. The South Africans have not asked for prosecution, but the Soviets have made it clear that they want prosecution, according to Jacobs.
The rabbis, all from the Washington area, “look forward to the trial to serve as an additional focus for their convictions that the issue of freedom for Soviet Jews and other dissidents has reached a critical stage, ” according to a statement issued by the Washington Board of Rabbis.
The Board, commenting on the prosecution of the rabbis by the Attorney’s office, said, “We believe that it is especially unfortunate that once arrested the decision made by the U.S. Attorney to prosecute us was dictated by the Kremlin.”
In a brief, but dramatic protest outside the courthouse here this morning, one of the 24 rabbis, Gary Fink, said, “We do not seek special treatment, we simply ask for equal treatment under the law.”In decrying what he said is the U.S. Attorney’s bowing to the wishes of the Soviets, Fink added, ‘How sad it is that the U. S. Attorney seems more concerned with foreign policy than with the equal application of the law.”
Only one of the 24 rabbis, Gerry Serotta, and the Lutheran Minister, Rev. John Steinbruck, have been arrested at the South African Embassy protesting apartheid policies. They were not prosecuted for that misdemeanor, and that fact will be an important element of the defense. Serotta is Hillel director at George Washington University.
POLICE TAKE HARSH ATTITUDE
At yesterday’s protest at the Soviet Embassy, during which the 21 rabbis were arrested, the police appeared to take a much harsher attitude toward the demonstrators than at last month’s demonstration, according to Fink, who is also a spokesperson for the Washington Board of Rabbis. Police attempted to block the demonstrators from walking in front of the embassy and tried to get them to the side.
Fink felt that there was an attempt to manipulate the demonstrating rabbis away from the television and photograph cameras. The press was also pushed across the street. Fink said there was much more resistance this time and the arrests were conducted in the alley next to the embassy where pictures could not be taken. The rabbis were held in jail for more than six hours, charged and then released.
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