Abstract
Vasyl Semyonovich Stus is a noted poet and translator who first fell victim to official wrath twelve years ago, in 1965, when he took part in a meeting in Kiev to protest against the suppression of Ukrainian literature and culture. As a result of that gesture, Stus was forced to abandon his doctorate, his poems were banned, and in 1966 he was sacked from his post at the State Historical Archives in Kiev. Stus found a job on a building site, but was dismissed for ‘working outside his profession’. He continued to protest publicly against the persecution of other writers, including his fellow-Ukrainian Valentyn Moroz, who was arrested in 1970: Two years later Stus was himself arrested arid charged with ‘the distribution of false ideas harmful to the Soviet order’. In September 1972 he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and three years' exile.
The following account of his experiences in jail Was compiled by Malva Landa and Toryana Khodorovich, who simultaneously launched an appeal for clemency. The account has been slightly edited and abbreviated by Index?