CALL TO SOVIET

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 22

CALL TO SOVIET

The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation of New Zealand has called on the Soviet Union and Its allies to “end immediately their illegal invasion and occupation” of Czechoslovakia by withdrawing troops. “Like the American and allied aggressors in Vietnam, the Soviet Union and its allies have violated international law and the United Nations Charter by military invasion, killing and imprisoning people in Czechoslovakia, - ' a statement forwarded to the New Zealand Soviet Embassy said.

“No military or economic reasons, or possible tacit understandings with Washington about spheres of influence, can justify this crime. "However, we must deny to Mr Holyoake the right to be taken seriously in his decrying of Soviet aggression, when, in alliance with the United States, his Government has initiated far worse aggression against the people of Vietnam in violation of the 1954 Geneva Accords. The pot should not call the kettle black.

“The only way to arrest the further drift into world chaos and a World War 111, is for both super powers to adhere to the principles and spirit of international law and the United Nations Charter, while focusing their constructive efforts on combating the world’s real problems of hunger, disease, population growth and disarmament,” the statement said.