Mrs. Shcharansky Stages Sit-in

The wife of imprisoned Soviet Jewish activist Anatoly Shcharansky staged a quiet sit-in across from the Soviet Consulate today, her second day of a vigil to draw attention to the plight of her husband and to demand his release.

She began her sit-in Sunday to coincide with demonstrations at the United Nations on the 10th anniversary of a resolution equating Zionism with racism. Shcharansky, a member of Helsinki Watch in Moscow, has been imprisoned since 1978, when he was convicted of spying for the CIA. According to his wife, his only crime was “to be a Jew in the Soviet Union.”