8 Friday, December 10, 1976
Caricatures
for your party
By
SAM FIELD
Ca II
399-1320
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Western Protest Seen as Important Factor in Release of Soviet Activists
By DR. STEVEN COHEN
Associate Director
Greater New York Conference
on Soviet Jewry
(Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.)
The freeing of Dr. Iosif
Ahs and Boris Cher-
nobilsky, two Soviet Jews
accused of "malicious
hooliganism," should be
seen as a consequence of
the combined work of
thousands of concerned
individuals on behalf of
Soviet Jewry, according
to the Greater New York
Conference on Soviet
Jewry.
THE
GOLD PLACE
announces extended
GIFT SHOPPING
HOURS
THURS., DEC. 16 9:30AM
to
THURS., DEC. 23 8:30 PM
rim pro
v
OPEN DAILY9:30-5:00
Red
PLA.CE
North Park Plaza, Room 120
17117 W. Nine Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48075
(313) 559-614,0
This view is paralleled
by that of Vladimir
Slepak, who, in speaking
for the other Moscow ac-
tivists, said that the re-
lease of Dr. Ahs and
Chernobilsky was due to
"pressure from the
United States."
Ahs, a physician, and
Chernobilsky, a radio en-
gineer, were singled out
for severe punishment for
their roles in the October
sit-ins in Moscow. Al-
though their protest be-
havior was no different
from that of the other ac-
tivists, the two individuals
were threatened with five
years in jail in Order to in-
timidate other would-be
protesters.
The conclusion that
Western reaction to the
arrests was the principal
factor behind the release
of the two men is based
upon the following key
points:
• The action is unprece-
dented: never before
have Jewish activists
been charged with a
crime without proceeding
to trial, conviction and in-
carceration.
• The law used to
charge the two men is
unusually vague and am-
biguous allowing Soviet
authorities great latitude
in deciding who is liable to
prosecution.
• The judicial proce-
dures attached to the
hooliganism statute calls
for an unusually speedy
process of taking evi-
dence and bringing the
accused to trial on the as-
sumption that the com-
mission of hooliganistic
acts is a public action and
thus entails a virtual
"open and shut" case. The
release of the two protes-
ters thus cannot be at-
tributed to any defect in
the case the Soviets were
preparing against Ahs
and Chernobilsky.
In the past, the Soviets
have not hesitated to sen-
tence selected protesters
to lengthy prison terms.
Just over 11/2 years ago —
February 1975 — protes-
ters peacefully held signs
outside the Lenin Li-
brary in Moscow's Red
Square.
• Following a pattern of
singling out a few indi-
viduals
for
severe
punishment to intimidate
other would-be protes-
ters, the 'Soviets brought
charges against Mark
Nashpitz and Boris Tsit-
lionok. Despite contradic-
tory testimony by the
prosecutor's witness and
other
judicial
ir-
regularities, the two men
were sentenced to five
years • imprisonment.
They are still serving
their terms of hard labor
and exile.
Ahs and Chernobilsky
were charged under a
statute which gives the
prosecuting authorities
enormous discretion in
defining criminal be-
havior. Article 206 of the
Criminal Code of the Rus-
sian Soviet Federated
Socialist Republic defines
two forms of hooliganism
Let
The National Bank
of Detroit
help light your
way through life
appy
J1 arZUGru
Making Banking Easier!
but does so in a vague and
ambiguous manner.
Simple hooliganism is
"intentional actions vio-
lating public order, in a
coarse manner and ex-
pressing a clear disre-
spect toward society."
Malicious hooliganism,
on the other hand, is "the
same actions distin-
guished in their content
by exceptional cynicism
or special impudence, or
. . . resisting a represen-
tative of authority . . . or
other citizens who are re-
straining hooliganistic
actions . . ."
The former is punisha-
ble by "deprivation of
freedom for . . . six
months to one year. or by
correctional tasks for the
same term, or by a fine of
30-50 rubles.
Conviction of malicious
hooliganism carried with
it a sentence of one to five
years.
Not only are prosecut-
ing authorities given a
virtual free hand in defin-
ing criminal behavior,
but the hooliganism sta-
tute contains ether overt
biases against the ac-
cused.
According to Articles
414 through 420 of the
Code of Criminal Proce-
dure of the RSFSB, pre-
trial investigation for
those charged with
hooliganism shall take no
longer than five days. The
reason for the special
court provisions attached
to the hooliganism sta-
tute lies in the assump-
tion that hooliganistic
acts are committed in
public. Thus, the facts of
such cases are ostensibly
apparent and clear to
witnesses, investigators,
prosecutors, and ulti-
mately and presiding
judges.
In actuality, however,
the hooliganism statute
leaves much ambiguity re-
quiring extensive investi-
gation. For example, ac-
tivist Jews have been con-
victed of hooliganism
charges for accidentally
bumping into indiv: 'als
walking in the stre'
ho
turned out to be
agents. A street fight
not lend itself to easy de-
termination of who is crim-
inally liable and who is not
the hooligan. Also, deter-
mining interference with
those trying to restrain
hooliganistic acts is espe-
cially difficult. What con-
stitutes interference? Who
is committing hooliganism
and who is attempting to
restrain such behavior?
In sum, the scholars
conclude that the Soviets
have, in the past, been
willing to severely punish
peaceful Jewish protes-
ters. Moreover, the law
under which Ahs and
Chernobilsky were
charged is ideally suited
for sure and speedy con-
viction. Under these cir-
cumstances, the release
of the two protesters can
be attributed to no cause
other than the extensive
Western protests accom-
panying the Moscow sit-
ins as well as the more
general environment of
opposition to Soviet op-
pression of its Jewish citi-
zens created by the
thousands of Westerns
working for Soviet Jewish
Freedom.
Klarsfeld Beaten and Evicted
From Munich Neo-Nazi Rally
BONN (JTA) — French
anti-Nazi fighter Serge
Klarsfeld was beaten up
and he and his wife Beate
were evicted from a neo-
Nazi rally in Munich last
weekend. -
The rally, organized by
the "Deutsche Volksun-
ion" (DVU) and attended
by an estimated 1,000
people, was held in the
Burgerbraukeller where
Hitler and his followers
planned an abortive
putsch against the Bava-
rian State government in
1923.
Guest of honor was the
controversial wartime
German flying ace and
Germany's most deco-
rated war hero Hans-
Ulrich Roedel, a Nazi
sympathizer whose pres-
ence at a recent army
ceremony led to the dis-
missal of two top German
Air Force officers.
Klarsfeld stepped onto
the podium at the start of
the meeting and asked
Roedel if he as a Jew and
victim of Nazism would be
allowed to give his views.
He was pushed off the
platform, assaulted and,
together with his wife,
thrown out. Klarsfeld had
a bleeding head wound as
a result of the attack. Un-
confirmed reports said
police made no attempt to
investigate or make any
arrests.
Thee rally was held to
call for an amnesty for
NaZi war criminalsstill in
prison. The focal point of
the event was the unveil-
ing of a bust of former SS
officer Jochen Peiper
who died earlier this year
in France when his house
was set afire.
The DVU recently tried
unsuccessfully to arrange
ceremonies in Cologne,
Dachau and Mannheim to
unveil the bust which car-
ried the inscription "Our
heroes live in our hearts."
The work was seized by
Mannheim police on Nov. 7
but released on the orders
of a Mannheim court.
Books and records with
speeches by Goebbels,
Goering and Hitler were
on sale at the rally.
side, three Jewish
dents dressed in cor
L,-
ration camp clothes r-
ried banners reading "We
will never forget Au-
schwitz."
NY Bond Event
Nets $6 Million
NEW YORK (JTA) —
The largest Israel Bond
dinner of its kind to be
held this year honored
Patrick E. Gorman, a na-
tional leader of the Meat
Cutters -Union, producing
more than $6 million in
Israel Bonds.