Aleksander Slepak, 23-year-old son of one of Moscow’s long-term Jewish refuseniks, was arrested Saturday and sentenced to 15-days detention, it was reported today by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The sentence was reportedly for “resisting a police officer.” according to his father, Vladimir Slepak, who is marking his sixth year since he applied for his first exit visa application. Slepak’s younger son, Leonid, is presently in a hospital recovering from a case of hepatitis.
Both sons wanted to join their father in a hunger strike earlier this year which was aimed at highlighting the plight of the family and of other Jews repeatedly denied emigration visas to Israel. Leonid was not permitted to strike, but Aleksander fasted until his doctor urged he discontinue the strike. The NCSJ noted this latest arrest is an attempt by Soviet authorities to harass Slepak by persecuting his children.
The NCSJ also reported that Piotr Grigsonov, another young Soviet Jew, is being harassed and threatened with enforced conscription. His parents do not want to emigrate. In another development, the NCSJ said that Vladimir Kislik and Boris Tsatskis, both of Kiev, applied for renunciation of Soviet citizenship and were refused.
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