At the end of January 1980, a large group of Muscovites (cf CCE 45.18, 1977) were called in for ‘prophylactic’ chats [note 1].
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On 28 January 1980, Felix SEREBROV, a member of the “Working Commission to Investigate the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes”, was summoned for a chat. So were Irina GRIVNINA, a member of the Working Commission since March 1979, and Yury SHIKHANOVICH, a long-standing CCE editor, both invited to ‘their’ police stations for the same purpose.
Serebrov was working that day and his wife did not accept the summons. He was invited several more times but did not go; for this he ‘earned himself’ 15 days in jail (see “The jailing of Felix Serebrov”, CCE 56.4-3).
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A senior police lieutenant and ‘a person in civilian clothes’ chatted with Grivnina.
She was told that a complaint had arrived at the procurator’s office from her neighbours. “She was leading an anti-social way of life,” they reported, and “brought people home with her, and herself went to various places”; the procurator’s office had “called and asked [the police] to investigate.”
Then ‘the person in civilian clothes’ added: “And you keep different kinds of literature at home”.
He did not reply to Grivnina’s question as to what literature could not be kept at home. After promising Grivnina that he would summon her again when the complaint had arrived at the police station, he let her go.
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The deputy police chief ‘for preventive operations’, Major Romanovsky, and two people ‘in civilian clothes’ chatted with Shikhanovich.
“At the request of the procurator’s office,” Romanovsky asked him to sign an undertaking “not to engage in anti-social activities”. Shikhanovich asked what he had in mind. “You know better yourself,” replied Romanovsky.
Shikhanovich left the following document at the police station:
Undertaking
“I, Yury Alexandrovich Shikhanovich, hereby undertake that I will try not to inflict any harm on my country and, specifically, not engage in anti-social activities.
“At the request of Major Romanovsky, I am adding that I will not engage in activities, which inflict political damage on my country.”
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The next day, 29 January 1980, Leonard TERNOVSKY (a member of the Working Commission), Vsevolod KUVAKIN [note 2], Nina LISOVSKAYA (CCE 54.1) and Irina Korsunskaya were all summoned to police stations. That day, Adel NAIDENOVICH [27.10 item 6] was summoned to the procurator’s office.
Ternovsky was summoned by the deputy chief for criminal investigation L.A. Grigorev. There was also a man ‘in civilian clothes’ in the office, who did not give his name and who was mainly responsible for conducting the ‘chat’.
Their conversation began with the suggestion that Ternovsky take part in management work. Very quickly it turned to the activities of the Working Commission. Those conducting the conversation were insistent that Ternovsky cease his activities with the Commission; in particular, they cautioned him against passing information abroad and warned him that he could cross the ‘boundary of the law’. Asked, “What conclusions would he draw from their chat?” Ternovsky replied: He was aware that criminal proceedings might be instigated against him, but, nevertheless, he regarded his activities as legal and did not shrink from taking responsibility (in April 1980, Ternovsky was arrested).
Leonard Ternovsky, 1933-2006
The ‘standard pair’ — a deputy police chief and a ‘person in civilian clothes’ — conversed with Kuvakin. He was given a “final warning to end his antisocial activities”.
On this occasion, when he asked: “How exactly do my so-called antisocial activities manifest themselves?” Kuvakin received a broad answer: “Compiling slanderous material, passing slanderous information to the West, disinforming public opinion”. This was followed by the traditional assertion: “But you know better than I what your activities consist of”. Kuvakin promised to take the warning ‘into consideration’. In conclusion ‘the man in civilian clothes’ said:
“But maybe you just don’t like living in our country? You don’t agree with our system, and Soviet ways aren’t to your liking? If that’s the case, no one will keep you here”.
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Lisovskaya [b. 1917] also asked, What did her activities consist of? She received a franker reply. “I don’t know,” said the official. “I was asked to have a talk with you and give you a warning”.
At the police station, Korsunskaya was given a straight answer : “A KGB official wants to have a chat with you” (for some reason this official showed her an Internal Affairs identity card). Korsunskaya refused to give a written undertaking demanded of her, after saying that she had never engaged in ‘anti-Soviet activities’. Her KGB-Internal Affairs interlocutor declared that next time she would face the full severity of the law: the only way for her to avoid criminal prosecution was to go to the West.
Korsunskaya sent a complaint to the Moscow city procurator’s office:
“… I ask you to establish precisely who summoned me and on what grounds, and why he made threats regarding my person. I request that suitable measures be taken to prevent such illegality in the future.”
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On 30 January 1980, Maria PETRENKO and Vladimir GERSHUNI were invited to police stations. The same day Naum MEIMAN, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, was invited to the Moscow city procurator’s office.
The specific reason given to Petrenko for the summons was her aid to political prisoners. Hints were also made that it would be desirable for her to emigrate. Gershuni did not respond to the summons.
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NOTES
‘Prophylactic’ chats with the KGB were formally introduced in the early 1970s as a way of intimidating a variety of activists without charging them or imposing terms of imprisonment. Following the adoption by the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet of an unpublished law in December 1972 — see “The Bukovsky Archive” (16 November 1972) for detail and background — the KGB issued formal ‘warnings’ to such people.
If they did not heed these alerts, charges might be brought against them for certain common offences, e.g., Article 190-1, investigated by the police, and the more serious Article 70, investigated by the KGB (both laws were part of the RSFSR Criminal Code). See CCE 32.14 (1974) for an early account of the decree and its implementation.
[2] Vsevolod Kuvakin — CCE 49.18 item 10, CCE 51.20 & CCE 54.12.
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