Richard Combs, assistant to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, John Scali, promised today that he would convey to the U.S. government a petition urging intervention on behalf of members of the Zalmanson family currently serving long prison sentences in the Soviet Union.
Combs, who speaks Russian, made the promise to Avraham Zalmanson, 50, an uncle of the prisoners, who began a three-day hunger strike outside the UN Tuesday to call attention to their plight. He met briefly with Combs today to present the petition which contained more than 2000 signatures-he gathered outside UN headquarters during the past two days. Zalmanson also urged U.S. intervention on behalf of isaac Shkolnik, a Ukrainian Jew who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment this week on charges of spying for Israel and anti-Soviet propaganda.
Zalmanson’s niece, Sylva Zalmanson Kuznetsov, her husband, Edward Kuznetsov and her brothers, Israel and Vulf, are serving sentences ranging from 8-15 years imposed on them at the Dec. 1970 Leningrad trial and other trials. Zalmanson, a Russian-born Israeli, said he would end his fast at noon tomorrow.
The Soviet Union and Finland Issued a joint communique in Helsinki yesterday calling for peace in the Middle East on the basis of the Security Council Resolution 242 of Nov. 22, 1967. It marked the end of President Nikolai Podgorny’s visit to Finland.
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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.
