§ Mr AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise as a matter of urgency in the current CSCE information forum the recent arrests of dissident publishers in the Soviet Union, and the terms of the new articles of the Soviet penal code published on 11 April.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe two Russians recently arrested for distributing material in Moscow were subsequently released.
We are deeply disappointed by the 8 April decree containing amendments to Soviet criminal legislation. We are making this clear to the Soviet authorities both in Moscow and at the London information forum. We hope that the new Supreme Soviet, when constituted, will have the opportunity to alter the decree radically, so as to bring it into line with Soviet public statements and their international commitments.