Soviet Dissidents Arrested Observing Human Rights Day
About a dozen Soviet dissidents marking International Human Rights Day were arrested Tuesday in Pushkin Square for distributing leaflets and trying to make speeches.
At the same time, the official media attacked the United States for alleged violations of human rights, citing singer Michael Jackson as a black man being exploited by capitalists.
Uniformed police and plainclothes KGB agents wrestled one activist to the ground and confiscated a handful of leaflets before reporters and diplomatic observers could grab a copy.
Another man was grabbed as he attempted to climb the statue of poet Alexander Pushkin and announced he was “going to cite some verse” amid a swirling snowstorm.
Other dissidents were apprehended and dragged away, yelling and kicking, as they tried to climb the steps surrounding the statue or were caught entering the square from the nearby underground subway station.
‘Violating State Order’
One KGB agent, asked why the protesters were being arrested, said they were “violating state order.”
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