Charged with Aiding Exiled Zionists to Proceed to Palestine (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Heavy sentences were imposed by the Supreme Court of Crimea upon three members of the administrative committee of the Chaluzim colony, Tel Chai. The three, Zirlin, Kossenko and Friedman, were arrested with eighteen other members of the colony on the charge brought against them by the Ogpu, Soviet secret police, that they were guilty of contra-revolutionary activity. The Ogpu claimed that it had discovered a secret Zionist conference which took place in the colony, that the Tel Chai colony had raised money to aid exiled Zionists to proceed to Palstine, that 2,000 roubles had been sent to Palestine by the colony and that members of the colony who became Communists were expelled from the settlement.
The local court sentenced the arrested to several months imprisonment The case was appealed to the supreme court, which increased the sentences. Zirlin was sentenced to three years imprisonment, to be followed by banishment from Crimea. Kossenko and Friedman received sentences of two years imprisonment.
Evidence submitted to the court tended to show that the Chaluzim colony systematically expelled members who became Communists. The local court had ordered the readmittance of the expelled members. During the proceedings speeches were delivered against the Chaluzim
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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.
