Some 1700 people attended the world premiere of the play, “The Trial of Anatoly Shcharansky,” at the University of Toronto as part at a nationwide series of mock trials and rallies during Solidarity Day with the Jewish activist who was sentenced last July by a Moscow court to 13 years for treason, three years in jail and the remaining 10 in a “strict regime” labor camp.
The play was based on the 1000-page appeal brief presented by McGill University constitutional law professor lrving Cotler, to the Soviet Ambassador in Ottawa after the sentencing of Shcharansky. The play was produced by the Canadian Bureau of the North American Jewish Students Network, under the direction of Cynthia Gunn and written by a group of law students in collaboration with Cotler. Students in Windsor also enacted scenes from the play at the Windsor University’s moot court.
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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.
