Seaman Had No Political Goal, State Dept. Says

Miroslav Medvid impulsively decided to jump off his Soviet ship to seek asylum in the United States last month but changed his mind after being drugged by a Soviet doctor and listening to presumed threats against his parents, a psychiatric report issued by the State Department said today.

The seven-page report by an Air Force psychiatrist concluded Medvid had an “immature personality” and fled the Soviet grain ship Marshal Konev near New Orleans last week for self-glorification.

“It is my conclusion that the individual’s motivation for jumping from his ship and initially seeking political asylum was based primarily on a rather impulsive decision, ‘Grabbing for the glitter and gusto,’ rather than on any deep-rooted political or moral beliefs” the report said.

The State Department released both psychiatric and medical reports from its examinations of the young merchant seaman, which were conducted following his two attempts to flee his ship by jumping into the Mississipi River last week.

The department defended the Administration’s decision to send Medvid back to the ship for a third time--after the tests concluded that at that point he genuinely wanted to go back.

The evalation from the psychiatrist, whose name was taken off the report, was that Medvid definitely wanted to return to the Soviet Union and was as competent as any Soviet citizen to make his decision. But the doctor concluded the sailor was heavily influenced during his time back on the vessel after he was returned there by U.S. agents.

During this period of more than three days, the report said, he was drugged with a tranquilizer and likely heard threats against his parents back in the Soviet Union.

The doctor said that during the interviews with U.S. officials and doctors, the sailor “made numerous references to the significance of his family and specifically to ‘Mama and Papa.”’