A French Jewish lawyer said today that he has been granted permission by Soviet authorities to attend any future trials in which Russian Jews are implicated. Andre Blumel made that statement upon his return from a private visit to Moscow. But Jewish circles here immediately sought to discredit him by pointing out that Blumel, once a Jewish and Zionist leader, is now known for his close connections with pro-Kremlin circles in the French Communist Party. Blumel said the Soviet authorities agreed to assign a Russian jurist to assist him at future trials and interpret Soviet law. Jewish circles here claimed that the alleged invitation was a move in the Russian propaganda campaign to try to prove the “fairness and justice” of the trials such as the recent one in Leningrad.
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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.
