The State - News from July 23, 1987

Nineteen people were arrested at the Soviet consulate in San Francisco during a peaceful protest of the Kremlin’s refusal to allow two Jewish families to emigrate. Police Officer Bob Davis said 16 people were cited for unlawful assembly and refusal to disperse, then released. Three others were arrested by FBI agents for obstructing the entrance to the consulate. Lucie Ramsey, assistant director for the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews, said the protest by about 45 people was on the behalf of the Elbert and Yuzefovich families, who have been denied permission to leave the Soviet Union because the government alleges they have had access to state secrets. The council disputes the allegations, Ramsey said. Both families staged hunger strikes that ended when the government announced it would reconsider their petitions, she said. The Elberts have yet to hear of a new ruling; the Yuzefovich family has learned that they have been refused again, Ramsey said.