Press Release: The French Campaign for the Release of Jonathan Pollard

For immediate release

Paris, March 6, 1994

Contact: C. Konold
Tel./Fax: (331) 43 80 94 56

France Marks 7th Anniversary of Pollard Sentencing

Radio Survey Positive To Commutation Appeal

Five French Jewish radio stations, including Radio Strasbourg and Radio Marseille, participated in a two-day campaign to inform the public of the Pollard case in the U.S. Noting that March 4 was the seventh anniversary of Jonathan Pollard's sentencing, the radios launched a renewed appeal for support of Pollard's request for commutation.

Broadcast participants included two nationally-known French attorneys, G. William Goldnadel, president of "Lawyers Without Borders", and professor David Rusie, former dean of the Paris university Law School. Mr. Goldnadel described Pollard's unprecedented life sentence as a serious denial of equitable justice. Professor Rusie, a specialist in international law, questioned the ethics of the U.S. Government's conduct both in the non-application of its commitment to Pollard's pleas bargain arrangement and in its hedging of full application of the 1983 Reciprocity Agreement with Israel.

France's main Jewish radio station, "Radio 'J' -- broadcasting nationally and in Belgium - today reported the results of its three-day survey. In response to the question "Do you think that the Jewish community has been sufficiently active in the Pollard case?" the results were: 35%, yes; 54%, no; 11%, no opinion.

An international petition requesting commutation of Pollard's life sentence was sent to President Clinton over the course of 1993. Nineteen thousand of the 31,075 signatures from 27 countries were from France alone. The signature campaign throughout Europe has intensified in recent months.