As part of the continuing crackdown on Soviet Jewish activists over the past few months, Soviet authorities yesterday sentenced Moshe Zats, Shmuel Rosenberg and a Biletsky to prison terms ranging from three to eight years on trumped up charges of bribery, the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry learned today
Zats, a construction engineer from Chernovtsy, received a three-year sentence. Zats, his wife, two children and mother-in-law received exit visas to Israel at the end of 1979. At the last moment, Zats’ visa was confiscated and old charges, which were officially dropped in October 1977, were brought up again. At that time, the local procurator, after a lengthy nine-month investigation, had decided that there was no case against Zats and all charges against him were dropped. The authorities reopened the case when he applied to go to Israel in October 1979.
Rosenberg, from Tashkent, charged with bribing a Soviet official to obtain an exit visa to Israel, was given five years imprisonment and confiscation of property. Rosenberg and his wife applied to emigrate to Israel in 1979 to reunite with their two daughters there. Rosenberg was charged with Article 1532 of the Uzbeck Criminal Code on Dec. 31, 1979, at which time all the family’s property was confiscated. The trial in May 1980 was held behind closed doors.
The third Jew, Biletsky, was sentenced to eight years in prison on similar charges of bribery.
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