Congressman MICHAEL BARNES. in bringing to the attention of Congress the plight of three men languishing in prison as a result of their convictions during the notorious "Leningrad trials" of December 1970. These young men. Yosif Mendelevich. Alexei Murzhenko. and Yuri Federov. were convicted of crimes stemming from a failed attempt to hijack a Soviet jetliner from Latvia to Sweden. They and several others planned this illfated flight to freedom after suffering for years under the oppression of the Soviet Government. Frequent confrontation with Soviet authorities for such socalled crimes as trying to emigrate to Israel. participating in disapproved political seminars. or spreading allegedly "antiSoviet views" led Mendelevich. Murzhenko. Federov. and the others to seek their freedom.
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emigrate