New York’s two Senators, Daniel P. Moynihan, Democrat and Republican Jacob K. Javits, said today that the U.S. would cancel its grain sale to the Soviet Union if Jewish activist Anatoly Shcharansky is brought to trial on charges of treason and allegations that he was a CIA agent which President Carter has flatly denied. The Senators issued their warning at a press conference here this morning marking the formation of a New York Committee to Free Anatoly Shcharansky by the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry (GNYCSJ).
Shcharansky has been held incommunicado in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison since his arrest last March 15. Moynihan charged that his arrest and possible trial for treason was “an act of aggression” against the U.S. “They (the Soviets) can feed themselves next winter if they lay a hand on Anatoly Shcharansky,” Moynihan warned. Asked if he meant that the Carter Administration would rescind its grain sales deal, the Senator replied “Yes.”
Javits was more cautious. He said there was a linkage between the treatment of Shcharansky and U.S.-Soviet relations and that could lead to a cutoff of the grain sale. He added, however, that “this will take an executive decision by the President. I can’t foretell what that decision would be and I’d prefer not to answer that now. We pray that the Soviets will draw back from the brink.”
Bronx Borough President Robert Abrams, chairman of the GNYCSJ, declared that “the future of the Soviet Jewry movement and the fate of countless other oppressed Soviet Jews demand our full and vigorous efforts on behalf of Anatoly Shcharansky.” Claiming that Shcharansky “has become the embodiment of the Soviet Jewry movement inside the Soviet Union,” he said “There is little doubt that the Soviets are determined to subject this heroic leader to brutal and oppressive treatment in order to crush the Soviet Jewry movement, demoralize other activists, isolate Soviet Jews and discourage those who want desperately to emigrate.
Former Israeli Premier Golda Meir, who was present at the press conference, said “We must arouse public opinion” on behalf of Shcharansky. “All that he has asked is that he be permitted to leave the USSR but instead of simply telling him to ‘get out’ the Soviet Union has chosen to detain him.”
Moynihan noted that “In the eight months that Shcharansky has been in prison a lot of grain has been sold (by the U.S.) to the USSR. But if Shcharansky is brought to trial, then this Administration will have to change its policy on the sale of grain. The Soviet Union must understand that the United States can change its mind and will do so if necessary.”
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