After being detained incommunicado for 16 months. he was tried and convicted of "antiSoviet agitation and propaganda" and of the trumpedup charge of "treason." At the conclusion of his 5minute "trial." at which no defense was permitted. Shcharansky was sentenced to a total of 13 years incarceration3 years in prison and then another 10 years in the harshest category of labor camp. As an activist in the Soviet Jewish emigration movement and a founder of the Moscow Helsinki Monitoring Group. Shcharansky fought for basic human rights for his countrymen and worked to promote his governments compliance with the Helsinki Final Act. Because of these activities. he became the target of a systematic campaign of harassment and intimidation which culminated in his arrest and imprisonment.
Keywords matched
emigration