Moshe Abramov, a 28-year-old Orthodox Jew from the city of Samarkand, received a three-year sentence, according to information obtained today by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Unable to observe Jewish dietary laws in prison, he is subsisting on only bread and water.
Abramov was arrested on December 19 on charges of “hooliganism” and incarcerated in the town of Katta-Kurgan about 100 kilometers from Samarkand. His arrest followed a dispute with local authorities in which be was asked to withdraw a request to emigrate to Israel, submitted in 1980. He refused to do so.
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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.