What was his crime to earn him 3 years in solitary? He asked permission to be reunited with his family and repatriated with his homeland. He wrote a letter asking the Soviet officials why his exit visa was denied. Tatanya Zunshine told us that she worried for the life of her husband. She told us she travels to Siberia on those few times a year that she was supposed to be allowed to meet her husband and visit with him in prison. and three out of five of those times. she was denied the right even to meet him for 1 hour at a time during visiting hours. and that was after a 3day journey from Latvia to Siberia.