The National Conference on Soviet Jewry has learned that Amner Zavurov’s three-year conviction for disorderly conduct, being without an internal passport and being without a job has been upheld by a Soviet court meeting in the Uzbek city of Karshi. Zavurov was sentenced to three years in prison Jan. 13.
His sentence has been sharply condemned by Conference chairman and Brooklyn District Attorney Eugene Gold as a “harsh and subjective punishment” for the activist’s attempt to emigrate to Israel, a struggle which began in 1974.
The trial and harsh sentence in the provincial town of Sharkhrizyabz, “was without a defense lawyer though Zavurov’s father had secured counsel,” Gold said. “The trial was a clear cut violation of Soviet and international law, such as the Helsinki Final Act signed in August, 1975, the same month Zavurov was given permission to emigrate,” Gold stated. “Clearly this reverses a hopeful trend, in which Soviet Jewish activists were not sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their wish to emigrate to Israel.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
