Aleksandr Yakir, the 29-year-old son of long-term refuseniks Evgeny and Rimma Yakir, was arrested in Moscow on Monday, according to the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. Yakir, an electrical engineer, is being charged with refusing military service.
The Yakirs first applied for exit visas to Israel in 1973, and were refused on the grounds that Evgeny’s routine work as a mechanical engineer was secret. Evgeny was subsequently fired from his job, and the family has been subjected to considerable KGB harassment throughout the past decade.
In spite of Soviet persecution, the Yakirs have participated in informal Jewish cultural and religious activities with fellow Moscow refuseniks. They remain committed to their dream of a life in Israel. If convicted on the charge of refusing military service, Aleksandr Yakir could face from one to three years in prison.
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