Ripps Still in Mental Institution; Kochubiyevsky, Dubrov Beaten by Assailants

Ilya Ripps, the Jewish student from Riga who set himself on fire in April 1969 in protest against Soviet anti-Semitism, is still confined in a Soviet mental institution. The Soviet Jewry Action Group, a San Francisco based group dedicated to the emancipation of Soviet Jewry, disclosed it had received this information from a tourist who recently visited the Soviet Union. The tourist reported that 23-year-old Ripps has fully recovered from his burns but has not been allowed to leave the hospital, although doctors have admitted that he is perfectly sane. Ripps was reported to be in good spirits and has told visitors that “the authorities with never be able to break my will to fight for the right to go to Israel.” At the same time the SJAG also revealed that Boris Kochubiyevsky, sentenced in 1969 to a three-year term in a Siberian labor camp, was beaten by thugs among the Siberian prison camp detainees. The Kiev Jew, whose sentence caused world-wide protest, has reportedly been asked to sign documents renouncing his desire to go to Israel. Jewish sources report that he has refused to bow to this demand. In a related incident, the Soviet Jewish musician Pinchas Dubrov who composed the underground song “Let My People Go!” has also been reported beaten by unknown assailants, according to the SJAG. Dubrov was reportedly struck several times by his assailants who accosted him near his home, and taken to the hospital unconscious. Two weeks before this incident, he had received an anonymous letter threatening repercussions if he would continue his struggle to emigrate to Israel.