Soviet Ship Allowed to Leave Port : Departure Despite Subpoena Averts a Possible Crisis

A Soviet freighter, carrying a load of grain and a young Ukrainian sailor who jumped ship more than two weeks ago, pulled out of port here Saturday despite a Senate subpoena and a flurry of lawsuits and protests.

The 801-foot Marshal Konev headed down the Mississippi River toward the Gulf of Mexico at 11 a.m. with a U.S. Coast Guard escort, the day after two Senate Agriculture Committee representatives subpoenaed seaman Miroslav Medvid to appear in Washington Tuesday so that the panel could learn whether he wanted to defect.

The ship’s departure averted a possible diplomatic crisis for the Reagan Administration that could have strained the coming U.S.-Soviet summit, but it was an affront to Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N. C.), who signed the subpoena.

‘Case Closed’

The White House on Saturday released a terse statement saying that the “executive branch has carried out its responsibilities. We consider the case closed.”

It was also clear, judging by President Reagan’s conciliatory remarks to the Soviets in a speech Saturday, that the Administration did not intend to let the Medvid case sour the summit talks.

But, at the Cargill grain dock in Reserve, protesters on a boat dubbed the “Freedom Warrior” waved Ukrainian and U.S. flags and chanted: “Stop that ship now! Stop that ship now!” The plea went unheeded as the ship turned down river toward New Orleans with a Coast Guard helicopter overhead.

Earlier in the morning, Soviet diplomat Yevgeny Vtyurin, who negotiated the release of the ship, arrived at the port to make sure that the Marshal Konev was cleared by Customs Service agents.

Picture of Diplomat

Jerry Mullen, an electrical supervisor at the grain company, said the diplomat asked to have a picture taken of him, making a victory sign, in front of the ship.

Helms’ reaction to the sailing was one of predictable anger. In a statement issued Saturday afternoon, the conservative senator accused Secretary of State George P. Shultz of failing to perform his constitutional responsibilities but stopped short of saying that Reagan was directly responsible for the freighter’s departure.

“Once again, the State Department clearly decided it is more important to appease the Soviet Union than to allow a young man to have an unfettered chance for freedom,” the statement said. “The State Department has shown once again its true colors.”

Helms signed the subpoena last Thursday, saying at the time that he wanted Medvid to testify free of any Soviet influence. Medvid jumped ship Oct. 24 and plunged into the river a second time from a boat returning him to the Marshal Konev, but he was eventually returned to it. The handling of the case by the Border Patrol sparked a wave of controversy that eventually included a State Department investigation of the case and four lawsuits seeking to remove Medvid from the freighter.

All of those suits, including one filed Saturday, proved futile.

How the Marshal Konev came to leave its berth, despite the subpoena, was still unclear Saturday night, but it was apparent that the Administration had chosen to ignore Helms’ order and to accept the State Department assessment that Medvid was an impulsive young man who had changed his mind about defecting.

Attempt to Serve Subpoena

The attempt to subpoena Medvid began Friday when two Senate aides, Terrance Wear and David Sullivan, met with Vtyurin. At the end of that meeting, Wear said the Soviets had refused to allow them to see or talk with Medvid but assured them the sailor was in good health and wanted to return home.

The Soviets refused also to accept the subpoena, contending that the ship was not bound by American law. But Wear inserted copies of the subpoenas in two cartons of cigarettes and gave them to the captain as a gift.

After doing so, Wear said Customs officials were bound to hold the ship until Medvid appeared before the Agriculture Committee. He was wrong.

Tom Richard of the Universal Shipping Agency, the Marshal Konev’s New Orleans agent, said Saturday morning that the vessel had been cleared through the Customs Service despite the subpoena. “The vessel has cleared, and the vessel is sailing,” he said.

The “Freedom Warrior” tried to follow the freighter down the Mississippi but was stopped by the Coast Guard. David Finzer, the angry owner of the boat, said he complied with a Coast Guard rule that he stay 1,000 feet from the freighter but was still stopped for an hourlong inspection as the Marshal Konev steamed toward the mouth of the Mississippi.

“I’ve got to hand it to the Coast Guard, it’s the most thorough inspection I’ve ever seen,” he said sarcastically.

Another voice of anger in Washington was that of Sen. Gordon J. Humphrey (R-N. H.), who called Reagan’s silence “unmanly” and said it was a “day of disgrace for the Reagan Administration and a day of despair for those who thought the United States was a safe place to seek political asylum.”