The International Committee for the Release of Anatoly Shcharansky today, on the 33rd birthday of the Soviet Jewish Prisoner of Conscience, appealed to the Soviet government to release him from prison and allow him to emigrate to Israel and rejoin his wife, Anital, there.
In a special gathering at the daily vigil across the street from the Soviet Embassy, former Congressman Robert Drinan of Mass., chairman of the American section of the Committee, said that Shcharansky, “is one of the world’s great leaders” because “he wields great influence as a symbol for the cause of justice and human rights.”
Drinan pointed out that since his arrest in 1977, Shcharansky “has been unable to monitor Soviet emigration policies in accordance with the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act” and “his health is not stable” in his confinement at the Perm Prison in Siberia. Shcharansky, who was Drinan’s official guide in Moscow in 1975 during the Congressman’s visit to the Soviet Union, is serving a 13-year prison sentence.
Drinan read a note from Shcharansky’s wife, sent to him from Jerusalem, in which she said “I appreciate all that President Carter tried to do for all other Prisoners of Conscience.” She expressed hope that President Reagan will use “all possible means to help my husband.” Avital was forced to emigrate alone seven years ago.
Among the approximately 200 persons assembled for the vigil were many non-Jews, including Mrs. Annette Roush, a director of CREED, an acronym for Christian Rescue Effort for Emancipation of Dissidents. She is the wife of the U.S. naval attache Paul Roush, who served at the Embassy in Moscow for three years and returned recently from the Soviet Union.
Virtually all of those present wrote birthday greetings for Shcharansky. These and some 200 others, or a total of about 400 cards, were presented to the Soviet Embassy for delivery to Shcharansky but the Soviet Embassy refused to accept them. Samuel Sislen, of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, then mailed the cards at the post office.
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