Soviet Jewish sources reported over the weekend that a Kishinev Jew has been convicted in a secret trial and that a previously convicted Riga Jew has had his appeal turned down. The Kishinev Jew, Yankel (Yaacov) Khantsis, a 42-year-old chauffeur, was sentenced to three years in a labor camp for “hooliganism” in closed hearings on an indeterminate date. Khantsis, who is married and has a 20-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son, has been sent to Omutninsk prison in Kirov, the sources reported. They said Khantsis had applied for migration to Israel two years ago, but was turned away.
The sources also said that the appeal of Arkady Shpilberg, who was convicted in the Riga trial, has been rejected by the High Court. Shpilberg, a 33-year-old engineer with a wife and daughter, is serving a three-year term for alleged anti-Soviet activities, the sentence to expire Aug. 4, 1973. He is being held in a “strict regime” camp.
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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.
