140 Political Captives Freed in 8 Days, Kremlin Reports

Soviet authorities have freed 140 political prisoners in the last eight days and are considering pardons for another 140 people jailed for “anti-Soviet agitation,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

It was believed to be the biggest mass release of religious and political dissenters since the years following de-Stalinization in the mid-1950s.

With the goal of reducing the numbers “behind bars or barbed wire” and as part of a new campaign for “democratization” being pushed by Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, a government commission is reviewing the nation’s criminal code, the spokesman added.

The announcement came three days after Andrei D. Sakharov, the dissident physicist released from internal exile last December, passed the word that at least 42 people had been released from prison, labor camp or exile this month.

Gennady I. Gerasimov, chief voice of the Foreign Ministry, said at a press briefing that the prisoners were granted clemency under two decrees approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal Parliament, on Feb. 2 and 9.

He said all those released either had applied for pardons or had promised not to continue the activities for which they were convicted.

Sakharov’s wife, Yelena Bonner, said the prisoners’ commitments are meaningless.

“Six months ago, they could have written any piece of paper they wanted and still die in camp,” she told the British news agency Reuters. “Now they (officials) are asking for a piece of paper that has no meaning.”

In Washington, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the Reagan Administration hopes that “the Soviet government will follow up these recent moves by releasing more political prisoners and prisoners of conscience who unjustly remain in confinement or exile without imposing any requirement that they recant their past activities or limit future activities in the area of human rights,” wire services reported.

One of the best-known prisoners, Josef Begun, refused to submit an application or make such a pledge, Gerasimov said at the press briefing, and was not released.

Begun, a Jewish activist in the late 1970s, was sentenced in 1983 to seven years in prison and five years in internal exile on charges of anti-Soviet agitation. His wife, who has expressed concern for his health, has been unable to visit him in Chistopol prison for several months.

Gerasimov, under questioning, said psychiatrist Anatoly Koryagin was “not yet on the list,” indicating that he may be freed in the future. Koryagin was convicted of anti-Soviet agitation after he accused authorities of using psychiatric hospitals to punish dissenters.

‘A Certain Softening’

“As soon as more clemency appeals are considered, the number (of prisoners released) will increase,” Gerasimov said. “This is in line with our policy of democratization.” A commission reviewing the Soviet criminal code, he said, could recommend “a certain softening” of the penalties provided by law, although some prefer a toughening of the legal code.

One possibility is “conditional sentences,” he said, that would not be imposed unless an offense were committed again.

“I can’t say what the outcome of the review will be, but the aim is to have fewer people behind bars and barbed wire,” Gerasimov said.

No Local Announcement

Despite the significance of the mass releases, most Soviet citizens did not hear of them by late Tuesday. There was no mention of Gerasimov’s briefing on the main evening television news show, Vremya, and it was not carried by the Russian-language service of Tass, the official news agency. A story was carried on the Tass English-language wire, however.

Even so, it was regarded as extraordinary for the government spokesman to announce the freeing of political prisoners and open himself up to questions on the subject.

Gerasimov did not make public a list of those released, although he volunteered to check for names suggested by correspondents. He said he did not know if the Supreme Soviet decrees would be published by the Soviet press.