Israel will request the Soviet authorities to release Yehuda Kogan who was arrested earlier this year when he was visiting Kharkov with a group of Israeli tourists, on the grounds that he was an Israeli citizen at the time of his arrest, Foreign Ministry quarters indicated here today.
The Israel Embassy in Moscow was informed on Monday that Kogan was tried and sentenced by a Krinian court to ten years of hard labor on charges he deserted from the Red Army in 1945. The Foreign Ministry sources contend that Kogan’s Israeli citizenship was recognized by the Soviet authorities when they stamped a visitor’s entry visa in his Israeli passport.
Kogan was arrested on June 9 while on tour with a group of Israeli tourists of the Ukrainian capital of Kharkov. He lagged behind the rest of the group and was approached by a civilian who later identified himself as a detective and forced Kogan into a waiting car. Nothing had been heard from him until last Monday when the Israel Embassy was notified of his sentencing.
Israeli officials have no information about the course of the trial and are now inquiring in Moscow about the legal possibilities of appealing the sentence or a pardon. It is not yet known whether the Soviet authorities will permit Embassy officials to contact Kogan now that the verdict has been made public.
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