Yugoslavia to Free 3 Jailed U.S. Citizens

Yugoslavia will release imprisoned U.S. citizen Pjeter Ivezaj and two other convicted Americans, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Rep. William S. Broomfield (R-Mich.) said today.

Broomfield said Ivezaj, 30, of Sterling Heights, Mich., an employee of the Detroit school system, will be freed within 24 hours to return to the United States.

But the State Department cautioned that the announcement may be premature and that an arrangement is still being worked out.

Ivezaj, an ethnic Albanian born in Yugoslavia who has dual U.S.-Yugoslav citizenship, was convicted Wednesday in Titograd of “crimes against the state” and sentenced to seven years in prison.

The other Americans were identified as Veroljub Radivojevic, Thousand Oaks, Calif., arrested Sept. 23 while visiting his wife’s parents in Belgrade, and Gradimir Hadzic, from the Los Angeles area.

Demonstrations Cited

Ivezaj was accused of taking part in anti-Yugoslav demonstrations inside the United States and arrested while visiting relatives in Yugoslavia.

Spokesmen for Levin said Broomfield said both received the word in telephone calls today from the U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia, John Scanlan, based on conversation with the “highest levels” of the Belgrade government.

The senator said he was gratified at the news but still has “concerns” about the way the case was handled and will still press to deny Yugoslavia most-favored-nation status in trade matters.

Ivezaj traveled to Titograd in July and was arrested in August.

He had not renounced his native citizenship and, being considered a Yugoslav national by the Belgrade government, was charged with taking part in protests in Detroit, Chicago and Washington in April, 1982.