A protest demonstration by five Leningrad Jews that was scheduled for yesterday was cancelled after two of its participants were arrested earlier and charged with “hooliganism” by Soviet authorities, it was reported today by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, The two are Grigory Goman, arrested last Thursday, and Raul Braz, arrested last Friday, Both were sentenced to 15 days detention.
A third participant, Josif Blikh, was sent out of town by his employer. Boris Rubenshtein, the fourth member, was called in for questioning by authorities late last week after visiting an ovir office and suffered a heart attack during the interrogation. He was reported hospitalized by the two Jewish groups. Arkady Rabinov was to have been the fifth demonstrator.
The five men had appealed a week earlier to the Mayor of Leningrad and the head of the Internal Affairs Department in Leningrad for permission to assemble in front of the municipal building to protest the denial of exit visas.
In another development, the NCSJ reported that Leonid Zabelishensky, accused of being a “parasite,” was not permitted to obtain the services of a Moscow lawyer. His trial, according to the NCSJ, was scheduled to begin today, Meanwhile, documents from his dossier dealing with his efforts to obtain a job and a report on his son’s illness disappeared.
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