The Supreme Court of the Russian Soviet Republic opened hearings yesterday on the appeal of Valeriy Kukui but then postponed them until tomorrow because of the illness of the chief prosecutor, Jewish sources reported here today. About 200 friends of the 33-year-old Jewish engineer from Sverdlovsk assembled outside the Supreme Court building in Moscow to await the outcome of the appeal. Kukui was arrested last March and was tried and sentenced on June 15 to three years in prison for alleged slander of the Soviet Union. He had publicly proclaimed Israel as his “fatherland” and demanded permission to emigrate.
Menuha Tessil, a young Jewish activist from Riga, was released from jail after serving one week of a two week sentence for “hooliganism.” Miss Tessil was one of three Jews who staged a hunger strike at the Riga visa office on Aug. 23 to protest the denial of emigration visas. Her companions, Mcnia Yehielson and Yerachamiel Trubeskin are still in jail, Jewish sources said.
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