Dr. William Perl, the 70-year-old former national chairman of the Jewish Defense League, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore Friday, to charges of “conspiracy to fire shots at the apartment” of two Soviet Embassy officials. A pre-trial hearing was set for Aug. 10 for lawyers to file motion in the case. Perl was arrested June 29 by FBI agents in connection with allegations that shots were fired May 23 at an apartment occupied by two Soviet second secretaries here. He is free on $20,000 bail.
Referring to the continued radiation aimed at the American Embassy in Moscow, the JDL in a statement said that “it is shocking that the Ford Administration is continuing to appease the Soviet Union by arresting Jewish leaders like Dr. Perl for alleged harassment of Soviet diplomats when the Soviets for years have been bombarding American diplomats, their families and even their children with deadly radiation. This is another instance of FBI and governmental abuse for political purposes.”
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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.