Vladimir Bukovsky

To the Editors:

The case of Vladimir Bukovsky has been widely reported in the press. In support of the cause of justice in this case, we have issued the following public appeal to the chief of state of the USSR.

Dear Chairman Podgorny:

All of the undersigned are members of the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, and have long been active in the struggle against US military operations in Vietnam and for the liberation of Angela Davis and other political prisoners in the United States.

We are convinced, however, that the democratic principles for which we struggle know no frontiers. News has reached us of the arrest, trial, and imprisonment of Vladimir Bukovsky. Based on the facts which have reached us, we are forced to conclude that Bukovsky has been incarcerated for holding and making public political views with which the current administration of the USSR does not agree. Such a practice, on the part of any government, is a violation of fundamental principles of human rights.

We therefore insist that the competent authorities remedy the wrong which has been committed and immediately restore liberty to Bukovsky and to all others similarly situated.

Jon Amsden

Joseph E. Emonds

Samuel Farber

Donald Kalish

David R. McCann

Gary B. Nash

Robert Brenner

David G. Epstein

Samuel R. Friedman

Nikki Keddie

Henry W. McGee, Jr.

Carlos Otero

Hayden V. White