Feliks Kochubievsky, a Soviet Jewish activist from Novosibirsk, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a labor camp last week, it was reported here today by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The 52-year-old electrical engineer was convicted for “circulation of fabrications known to be false which defame the Soviet state and social system.” He faced a maximum penalty of up to three years imprisonment.
Kochubievsky has been the target of KGB harassment since he first applied to emigrate to Israel in 1978, the National Conference said. He and his wife, Valentina, were denied permission to join their two sons in Israel on the grounds of “regime considerations.” His subsequent efforts to re-establish a “USSR-Israel Friendship Society” exacerbated his already strained situation.
According to the National Conference, Kochubievsky is presently in very poor health. He is suffering from a kidney ailment which requires immediate surgical attention.
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