Don’t Be Misled by Gorbachev’s False Image, Shcharansky Warns West

Human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky, the former Soviet dissident released in an East-West exchange of prisoners last year, warned here Wednesday night that the West must not be misled by the “public relations” image projected by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

Shcharansky, who now prefers the Hebrew name Natan and the spelling Sharansky, was in Los Angeles to receive the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s 1987 Humanitarian Award for what the center called “his invincible spirit in the face of Soviet oppression.”

More than 2,000 guests--including Hollywood celebrities, business leaders and public officials--attended the Bonaventure Hotel banquet honoring the 5-foot, 2-inch former “refusenik.” Actress Jane Fonda served as mistress of ceremonies.

“The danger,” Shcharansky told reporters before the black-tie dinner, “is that the West mistakes every step Gorbachev makes as real fundamental change. Gorbachev is very talented. He has developed the image of being liberal.”

Sometimes, the famed former dissident said, “it looks like the West wants to be deceived rather than analyzing what’s really happening and looking at the bottom line, seeing that on the question of human rights there is not only no progress, but serious regression.”

He said Gorbachev is successful “in using the Western press and his public relations campaign to create his new image of a liberal.”

Nevertheless, Shcharansky added, there is potential for progress because Gorbachev is concerned about the Soviet economy and “needs access to Western technology.”

Change for the better can be achieved, he said, “only if the West will be very firm, very realistic and will look at the bottom line to see what is really happening in the Soviet Union.”

For nearly nine years, Shcharansky, who took the name Natan after he emigrated to Israel, was one of the most famous “prisoners of conscience” in the Soviet Union, largely because of the efforts of his wife, Avital.

She emigrated to Israel the day after their 1974 marriage in Moscow, before her exit visa expired. He had insisted that she leave, expecting that he would soon be granted his own emigration visa.

When the Soviet Union refused to let him go, she began a worldwide campaign for his release. Her simple, earnest appeals impressed President Reagan and Secretary of State George P. Shultz, strengthening their efforts to win Shcharansky’s freedom.

Avital Shcharansky was honored, too, at Wednesday night’s event. The citation accompanying her award referred to her as Shcharansky’s “beloved Eyshet Chayil (Woman of Valor) who never forgot, and who, against all odds, did not let the world forsake her husband, and other prisoners of conscience.”

Shcharansky was cited for “his epic struggle for the Jewish people, for freedom and human dignity. Who, even in the depths of the gulag, maintained his faith, his commitment and integrity.”

Famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal flew from Vienna to honor Shcharansky, declaring that “we are the ones honored.” He told Shcharansky, “You came to us as a messenger and witness from our brothers and all men who suffer. We know that you consider your release into freedom as a mission and we will adopt this mission from you. We will fight for the ideas you harbor until the time of liberty will come.”

There were letters of congratulation to Shcharansky from President Reagan, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, French Premier Jacques Chirac and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Although Soviet authorities branded Shcharansky, 38, a traitor, he became a powerful symbol of resistance for those struggling to liberalize Soviet policy on Jewish emigration.

Shcharansky’s only crime was his steadfast advocacy for Soviet Jews, supporters said, and his punishment was the result of his daring to challenge the Soviet regime.

By early 1975, Shcharansky, who speaks English, had become the chief spokesman for the Soviet Jewish emigration movement to Moscow’s Western press corps. The next year he joined a group organized to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki accords and became a leading spokesman on that issue.

KGB agents began trailing him in 1977, and Izvestia, the official government newspaper, accused him of betraying his country by passing secrets to CIA agents.

Shcharansky was convicted of treason and “anti-Soviet slander” and received a 13-year sentence. The U.S. government insists that he never was a spy.