Boris Begun, son of Prisoner of Conscience losif Begun, has been expelled from the Moscow Institute in which he was a graduate student, it was reported today by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. The announced reason for his expulsion was his absence from too many classes last semester.
But according to the Conference, the action was clearly intended to punish Boris for his efforts to secure his father a lawyer and to help with his defense last fall, losif Begun was convicted in October, 1983, and is now serving a 12-year sentence for “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.”
The loss of his status as a graduate student means that Boris may now be subject to the military draft. If he is drafted, be will have to choose between serving in the military and being exposed to state secrets which will jeopardize his emigration application, or refusing to serve and opening himself to criminal prosecution, the Conference said.
An agreement for scientific cooperation between the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and the Colombian Scientific Research Institute (Colciencias) in Bogota was signed in Bogota last week, the Weizmann Institute announced here. President Belisario Betancur Curates of Colombia added his signature after the signing ceremony in his office to indicate the importance he attaches to the agreement.
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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.
