Soviet authorities reneged on their promise to Anatoly Shcharansky’s father, Boris, and brother, Leonid, that they could visit him at Lefortovo prison before he is taken away to begin serving a three-year prison term to be followed by 10 years in a “strict regime” labor camp, the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) reported today.
According to the SSSJ and the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ), Boris and Leonid Shcharansky arrived at Lefortovo prison yesterday only to be told that they were “too late.” According to information relayed to the group by Michael Sherbourne, a Soviet Jewry activist in London, Shcharansky was removed to the notorious Vladimir prison, 120 miles from Moscow, shortly before the visitors arrived.
On Tuesday, however, he was allowed a 20-minute visit, under close supervision, with his mother, 70-year-old Ida Milgrom. It was the first time he had seen her since his arrest 16 months ago.
According to the SSSJ and UCSJ, Mrs. Milgrom was kept waiting in isolation for 2-1/2 hours before she was permitted to see her son. The prison authorities refused to allow her to give him food she had brought, which is contrary to the normal practice. Her conversation with her son was repeatedly interrupted by a prison official who warned them not to discuss the trial and a number of other subjects. Mrs. Milgrom was afraid to tell her son of the world-wide surge of indignation over his trial and sentence lest it jeopardize the promised meeting with his father and brother, the Soviet Jewry groups reported.
Soviet Jewry sources also reported that activist Vladimir Slepak’s appeal against his recent sentence to five years internal exile was due to be heard in a Moscow court today.
It was reported from Israel, meanwhile, that Israel Zalmanson, one of the 1970 Leningrad hijack trial defendants, has been released after completing his eight year sentence and was given an exit visa. He is expected in Israel within two weeks. He is the brother of Silva Zalmanson who was permitted to go to Israel several years ago after completing a shorter sentence. Her husband, Eduard Kuznetsov, another Leningrad trial defendant, is still in prison serving a 15-year sentence. But according to Soviet Jewry sources, it is highly probable that he will soon be released and allowed to emigrate.
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.
