Peace slogan carried by balloons

Press, 5 June 1982, Page 9

Peace slogan carried by balloons

NZPA-Reuter Moscow

A group of 28 activists from the Greenpeace environmentalist group have left the Soviet Union after releasing balloons over the Port of Leningrad calling on the Soviet Union to halt nuclear weapons tests. A spokeswoman for the officially-sponsored Soviet Peace Committee acknowledged that the balloons had been released but said they had not climbed high and had "polluted" the harbour. She said the group's action was "excessive."

The spokeswoman said the group had left aboard their vessel, the Sirius. Their departure had been normal and she could not confirm reports that the Sirius had been towed by tug from the harbour. In Copenhagen a Greenpeace spokesman said that Soviet tugs had towed, the ship out of Leningrad after it had released 2000 balloons which were carried over central Leningrad by the wind. The group's leader. Dr Daniel Ellsberg (who 11 years ago handed secret Pentagon papers to the "New York Times”) said that he and his co-demonstrators had intended to refuse to leave

voluntarily until they received a reply to a tele-gram-they sent to the Soviet President (Mr Leonid Brezhnev) demanding a unilateral Soviet freeze on testing nuclear weapons. •

The Sirius docked in Leningrad on Wednesday. Dr Ellsberg said that the Soviet authorities at first had refused to allow the crew to go ashore because they were wearing tee-shirts bearing the slogan. "Soviet Union stop nuclear testing now" in Russian.

Mr Ellsberg said that they were finally allowed ashore

to meet members of the peace committee and other officials to whom they presented their views in several hours of discussion. He said that the meeting had been useful and Soviet officials had shown them how to send a telegram to Mr Brezhnev, but would not send it themselves. Dr Ellsberg said that on their way back to the harbour they had handed out leaflets to Soviet citizens calling for an end to Soviet nuclear testing. The group, which represents supporters in eight countries, was returning to Finland from the Soviet Union, the organisation said in Paris.