Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger was urged today to intercede with Syrian government authorities in the closed trial of two Jewish youths in Damascus facing “trumped-up” charges of murder.
In a cablegram to Dr. Kissinger in Cairo, Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, asked that the trial of Yosif Shalouah and Azur Zalta, which began last week, be opened to neutral observers and to the world press to prevent “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
“The lives of two innocent Jewish youths are at stake,” Rabbi Miller said in his message, adding “These two young men have been active in Jewish community affairs in Syria. One was a brother-in-law of one of the four Jewish girls they are charged with murdering.”
“It is inconceivable that they are in any way guilty of the crime of which they are accused but they will surely be found guilty if the trial remains closed,” Rabbi Miller said. “For this reason, we respectfully urge that you intercede with Syrian government authorities so that this trial will not be conducted in secret.”
The two men are charged with the murder of Eva Saad, 18, and three Zaibek sisters, Laura, 22; Toni, 23; and Farah, 24. The young women were found raped and slain in a cave near the Lebanese border in March; On March 14, the two Jewish youths and two other men were reported by the Syrian Minister of the Interior, All Zaza, to have confessed to the crime.
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