The first complaint that Soviet authorities are not honoring their commitment to the United-States to end the harassment of Jews seeking to emigrate appeared in Moscow yesterday in the form of an “open letter” to Sen. Henry M. Jackson from three Jews who are on a hunger strike protesting the denial of exit visas. The complainants-Mikhail Suslov. a film cameraman; Felix Kandel, a writer and cartoonist; and Yevgeny Barash, a Journalist accused the Russian authorities of tampering with their telephones. The group began a 12-day hunger strike Oct, 16.
They said in their letter to Jackson that Suslov’s phone was disconnected on the first day of the protest and the phone of a friend was cut off the following day when he attempted to discuss the hunger strike with someone abroad. On several other occasions, telephone calls were interrupted or not .put through, the letter charged.
The trade-emigration agreement announced in Washington last Friday contained assurances that the Soviet Union would grant exit visas to its citizens applying for them and would end the persecution and harassment of visa applicants and their families.
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.
