News Blackout on Trial of Riga Four; Rigerman Gets Letter Necessary for Visa

Once again, a news blackout has descended over a trial of Soviet Jews. As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Tuesday, four Jews of Riga, Latvia, were to be tried today, but no sources could confirm by late afternoon whether the proceedings had actually gotten underway. Jewish sources reported conflicting dates for the start of the trial. The local office of Tass, the Soviet press agency, told the JTA today it had received no word on the matter from Moscow. The JTA report of the start of the new trial today was based on information obtained from a Muscovite Jewish family by the Israel Broadcasting Service. Earlier reports had indicated only that the Riga trial would probably be held toward the end of this month. The Riga defendants are Ruth Aleksandrovich, 23, a nurse; Arkady Shpilberg, 23, an engineer; and Mikhail Shepshelovih, 27, and Boris Maftsier, 23, occupations unknown. They were reported to be charged with anti-Soviet activities.

Meanwhile, it has been learned that Leonid Rigerman, the Russian-born computer programmer recently granted American citizenship in the face of Soviet attempts to block the move, has received the required vyzov (letter of invitation) from his uncle, Louis Michael of the Bronx. This was confirmed to the JTA by Daniel Greer, a city commissioner who is handling the legal details for Rigerman and his Brooklyn-born mother, Mrs. Esther Rigerman. Greer said the next step was for Rigerman to submit the letter to the OVIR, the Soviet visa bureau. In the letter, Michael formally asked that the Rigermans come to live in the United States. On another front, Jewish sources said today that the unexpected delay in the exit visas previously issued by Soviet authorities to two Muscovite Jews was due to bureaucratic red tape rather than a reversal. The two are Boris Tsukerman, who applied for a visa two months ago and was to leave Jan. 25, and Vitaly Svichinsky, who was to leave Jan. 23.