Search Details

Word: medvedkovs (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first (reverse)


Usage:

...white-haired man with owlish glasses opened the door, took one look at the two Americans with over-stuffed knapsacks, and said softly, "Welcome." Yureii Medvedkov took their coats, and offered them tea. A glance around the living-room, accompanied by Yureii's explanations in English, gave visual evidence of the Medvedkov's many friends in the West. Dozens of familiar American "no-nukes" bumper-stickers were pasted to the walls and bookshelves. Hanging on the wall above the couch were two patch-work sections from the "women's peace ribbon," a five-mile long needlework collection which was wrapped...

Author: By Andrea Fastenberg, | Title: A Midwinter's Journey to the Soviet Union | 4/23/1986 | See Source »

...Soviet Union anything "unofficial" is basically illegal--only the government's own "peace group" is sanctioned. Consequently, members of the Medvedkov's group are harassed by the government, which tries to discredit them as "anti-Soviets." Many have been subjected to arrest or forced detainment in psychiatric hospitals, where they undergo dangerous chemical and physical abuse...

Author: By Andrea Fastenberg, | Title: A Midwinter's Journey to the Soviet Union | 4/23/1986 | See Source »

Yureii and Olga Medvedkov, Dina Zisserman, and many other members of the group are also refuseniks. To Yureii Medvedkov, the right to emigrate is one of a broad slate of human rights that are indivisible from peace activism. "To be a peace activist is a right," he insists. Refuseniks, by applying to leave have already crossed into a realm of dissent which sets them apart from ordinary Soviet citizens. While simply wanting to leave is not usually considered dissent in Western countries, a desire to leave is considered tantamount to treason in the Soviet Union. As a result refuseniks...

Author: By Andrea Fastenberg, | Title: A Midwinter's Journey to the Soviet Union | 4/23/1986 | See Source »

| 1 |