Soviet prisoners

Press, 21 February 1986, Page 16

Soviet prisoners

ci r _ i commend “The Pr 2s’’ for its fair and compretensive article on ° Fatter Greg Jordan.

group dedicated to supporting and encouraging prisoners of conscience amongst the Soviet Union’s slave labour force of four million. Father Jordan states a fact that will be extremely painful to many New Zealanders — that we have been duped into supporting slave labour by buying Soviet goods. According to Father Jordan, slave labour, under extremely harsh conditions, is an "integral part of the Soviet economy and is used by the Soviets for export production to get much needed hard currency. Father Jordan supported my recent allegation about Lada cars, saying “We know that no Lada exported to the West is free from input from prisoners.” The rapidly-emerging truth about the Soviet slave camps is painful but must be faced. — Yours, etc., T. R. LOUDON. Kaiapoi, February 19, 1986. Sir, — An Australian Jesuit priest claims that many exported Soviet Union goods have slave-labour-made components and gives as his source for these serious allegations unspecified “international organisations,” “Soviet contacts,” and an underground Lithuanian publication. Such testimony so dubiously based would probably be rejected by "our courts as the evidence of hostile witnesses. The Jesuit Order has always been implacably hostile toward the Soviet Union, and even allowing for my own bias, allegations from such a source should be treated with suspicion. — Yours, etc. M. T. MOORE. February 19, 1986. Sir,—l congratulate "The Press” for its write-up on Father Jordan, a highly respected and educated man, who has called a spade a spade and evil evil and the Soviet Union a society where the use of slave labour is an integral part of the economy. I am in full support of his call for a ban to be put on all slave-built Soviet goods. I promise never to buy any Soviet-made goods until I know these poor victims of communism are free.—Yours, pfc M. NIEL. February 19, 1986.