2

The following day, Lieut. Col. Kalakauskas informed Terleckas wife that her husband has been arrested, but refused to reveal the charges against him. As it became clear later, the preparatory steps for the assault on Terleckas were entrusted to KGB Lieut. Col. Markevicius who is in charge of Case No. 58. It seems that this case is being used as a cover for large-scale reprisals against national resistance in Lithuania. Antanas Terleckas was one of the enthusiastic participants in this resistance and there is no doubt that he will not be the last victim in this wave of reprisals.

The physical destruction of individuals who dare to avail themselves of the freedom of expression and of the press, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Final Act of the Helsinki Agreement, is continuing in Lithuania. Political reprisals against dissidents are becoming more frequent and more arrogant. During the last two years, many well-known fighters for the rights of their nation have been arrested and sentenced in Lithuania: Vladas Lapienis, Kastytis Matulionis, Ona Pranckunaite, Henrikas Jaskunas, Henrikas Klimasauskas, Balys Gajauskas, Viktoras Petkus, Romas Ragaisis. And now there comes another arrest which has rightly aroused the indignation of all decent people. The activities of Antanas Terleckas have made him well-known beyond Lithuania's boundaries as well. Starting with the protest against the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution by Soviet tanks, he devoted half of his life to the struggle for those rights and freedoms that were extinguished by the executors of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. He knew he was risking his personal freedom and that he might have to abandon his wife and children again. Yet he did not give up because he believed in what he was fighting for. Antanas Terleckas never concealed his convictions; he fought courageously and openly although his only weapon was the word. Antanas Terleckas has committed no crime but merely did his holy duty, which would be everybody's obligation. The word "criminal" applies rather to the reprisals that are being carried out by the security organs, because such use of force is an irreconcilable enemy of any rights or freedoms; use of force destroys freedom, while peace is tantamount to respect for the opinion of others.

Antanas Terleckas must be released. The international Nuremberg tribunal has condemned and punished the hitlerite criminals. Just retribution was meted out to the former foreign minister of the German Reich, Ribbentrop. Yet the one who sat down with him at the negotiations table to divide East Europe, remains free and unpunished. Meanwhile, Antanas Terleckas, who has dared to condemn this shameful collusion of dictators, is being subjected to arrest and torture. Can one be silent in view of this? There can be no room for apathy. Violation of human rights in any corner of the world is a challenge to the hopes and ideals of all mankind.

We appeal to all people of goodwill: in the name of the memory of the victims of World War Two, in the name of the freedom of all nations, in the name of the realization of human rights raise your voices in protest and defend him who has had the courage to condemn the initiators of the most terrible war in all history.

November 8, 1979

Rev. Algirdas Mocius, Mecislovas Jurevicius, Vladas Sakalys, Algirdas

Statkevicius, Julius Sasnauskas, Jonas Protusevicius, Kestutis Subacius, Petras Cidzikas, Zigmas Sirvinskas, Angele Paskauskiene, Jonas Petkevicius, Jadvyga Petkeviciene, Jonas Volungevicius, Gediminas Rickevicius

Condemning political reprisals, we support the demand for the unconditional release of Antanas Terleckas.

Seven illegible signatures and Algimantas Andreika

Julius Sasnauskas was arrested on December 11. Condemning reprisals against individuals because of their views, we demand that Antanas Terleckas and Julius Sasnauskas be released.

151 signatures, including Antanas Pacas, Zofija Raciene, Henrikas Racas, Veronika Raciene, Gerute Sakaliene, Rimantas Matulis, Leonora Sasnauskaite, Vytautas Boguscis, Andrius Tuckus, Algimantas Andreika, Birute Burauskaite, Ona Smetoniene, Zita Vanagaite, Angele Patkauskiene, Elena Terleckiene, Vilija Terleckaite, Mart Niklus, Enn Tarto, Erik Udam, Albertas Žilinskas, and others

Born in Tartu, Estonia, on 22 September 1934. Graduated from Tartu University in 1957 with the qualification of a biologist-zoologist and a teacher of biology and chemistry for secondary schools. Arrested on 21 August 1958 and sentenced by § 58-4 of the Penal Code of the Russian SFSR to ten years of forced labor, plus three years of exile, on 15 January 1959. The reason: he had sent 15 photos depicting Soviet reality to the West. Spent almost eight years in Soviet prisons and forced labor camps. Released from Vladimir prison on 29 July 1966. Getting no work of his speciality, he worked as an engineer, a locksmith, a motor pool driver, an auto mechanic, and, since 1972 as a teacher of English, French and German at the Evening School of Foreign Languages in Tartu.

Mart Niklus was forcibly taken from a language class to interrogation on 30 September 1976. During the interrogation the KGB searched his apartment. Confiscated were his autobiography and some books. On October 8, 1976 he was arrested at school. Mart Niklus was accused of "resisting the militia" when he was dragged to the interrogation on 30 September. Indignant of the arrest, Mart Niklus tore up his Soviet passport, declaring that he renounces his Soviet citizenship. From Tartu Mart Niklus was taken to Central prison in Tallinn, where he was detained without indictment for two months. During all this time Mart Niklus was, in protest of the unlawful detaining, on a hunger strike. He was released on 3 December 1976.

On August 25, 1977 he was arrested at Pölva railway station and interrogated in Tartu and Tallinn for four days. On 16 November 1977 Mart Niklus was once again interrogated in Tartu. At the same time bis flat was searched, the militia confiscating three typewriters. The search was made on the pretext of a suspicion that Mart Niklus multiplied the materials of the Helsinki Conference. In connection with the arrest of the chairman of the Lithuanian Helsinki-group, Viktoras Petkus, on 24 August 1977, Mart Niklus was interrogated on 17 and 18 January 1978 in Vilnius. At the same time the Tartu newspaper "Edasi" published a slandering article about Mart Niklus, which resulted in an attempt upon the lives of Mart Niklus' parents on 17 January 1978. In connection with the action against Viktoras Petkus, Mart Niklus was ordered to Vilnius, where he had to be a witness on 11 July 1978.

On 13 November 1979 he was dismissed from his work at the Evening School of Foreign Languages of Tartu by the pressure of the KGB. Since Mart Niklus considered that he had been dismissed unlawfully, he demanded through court the annulment of the decision of dismissal. His appeal was turned down by the people's court, but the Supreme Court of the Estonian SSR, where Mart

Niklus applied further, annulled the court's decision, sending it back to the people's court for revision. On the pretext of various circumstances the sessions of the court have several times been postponed and Mart Niklus has been out of work since his dismissal.

On 21 December 1979 the flat of Mart Niklus was again searched. It was conducted by 8 KGB officials and lasted for ten hours. Newspaper clippings, letters, etc. were confiscated. The search was made at the order of the Lithuanian KGB in connection with the action against Antanas Terleckas.

On 18 January 1980, bound for Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, he was intercepted at the railway station in Tartu and held by the militia until his train had left.

On 11 March 1980 Mart Niklus was arrested at the Tartu railway station in the train, bound for Moscow. The KGB officials presented him with the order of search, which had been signed in Moscow on 18 January in connection with the action against Tatiana Velikanova. 10 persons participated in the arrest and search of Mart Niklus at the railway station. Letters contained in his briefcase were opened. Then he was squeezed in a car, which headed towards his home, where he lives with his parents. Since the parents did not open the door on the repeated demands by the KGB, Mart Niklus was once more thoroughly searched in front of his home. Then the KGB officials suddenly departed. Mart Niklus could now enter. He grabbed a few necessary belongings and left Tartu.

On 19 March 1980 Mart Niklus was again arrested in Tartu after returning home from a trip to Riga, Vilnius and Moscow. He was accused of "resisting the authorities" in connection with his interrogation by the KGB on 11 March 1980. He was sentenced by § 182 of the Penal Code of the Estonian SSR to 13 days of detainment, which he spent in Tartu prison. He was released on 1 April 1980.

On 4 January 1980 Mart Niklus was forced to hand in an application for emigration to his relative Peeter Niklus in Norrköping, Sweden. After waiting for two months, on 3 March 1980 he was informed of the refusal for emigration, on the ground that Peeter Niklus' date of birth was wrong on the invitation. Since this is not true, Peeter Niklus has now sent Mart Niklus a new invitation, together with a photostatic copy from the page of his passport where his date of birth is entered.

Mart Niklus has compiled more than 50 scientific works and monographs on ornithology. Having mastered the English, French, German, Swedish, Russian and Finnish languages, he has obtained outstanding results as a translator of scientific works. Among others Mart Niklus has translated into Estonian, his mother tongue, R. Peterson, G. Mountfort and P.A.D.Hollom's "A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe", "The Autobiography of Charles Darwin", Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" and "The Descent of Man". Both the translations and many of his scientific works have not been published for ideological reasons.

On 23 August 1979, 40 years will pass from the day when in 1939 the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact was signed, which is known under the name of non-aggression treaty. In the secret protocol of this pact fascist Germany and the Soviet Union agreed upon their spheres of influence in Europe. Even to a greater extent than the ill-famed Munich pact, the pact of Ribbentrop-Molotov-Hitler-Stalin contributed to the outbreak of World War Two, which brought innumerable sufferings to mankind. Only a week after its signing fascist Germany started to realize its "interests" by invading Poland. The day of this assault (1 September 1939) is regarded the official beginning of World War Two.

I regard that time has come to critically revaluate the nature of this pact, moreover that the historical role of the abovementioned personalities is known to everybody.

For this I suggest that the Government of the Soviet Union, and also the Governments of both Germanies (the GDR and the FRG)

1) publish in wide press the whole text of the pact of 23 August 1939 together with its secret additional protocols about the spheres of influence in Europe;

2) announce this pact criminal and void;

3) entirely renounce it;

4) eliminate all the still existing consequences of this pact in Europe.

Moscow 18 July 1979

Mart Niklus