Speaker. March 15. 1980. marks the third anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of Anatoly Shcharansky. the courageous Soviet dissident who avidly fought for the protection of human rights in the U.S.S.R. From 1972. when he first applied for a visa. through 1977. when he was arrested for treason. Anatoly Shcharansky was subjected to brutal harassment from the KGB. In 1974. Avital. Shcharanskys wife of 1 day. emigrated to Israel having been assured her husband would soon be allowed to follow. but Shcharanskys activist stance on issues dealing with Soviet Jews and other minorities prevented the issuance of any such visa. In 1976. still fighting for a visa. Shcharansky became a founding member of a Moscow group that monitored Soviet compliance with the Helsinki agreement. Through this committee Shcharansky frequently called attention to human rights violations in the Soviet Union. a practice not tolerated in the U.S.S.R.
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emigrated visa