Crowd of 300 Is Dispersed by Authorities in Lithuanian Capital
MOSCOW — Authorities broke up a gathering of about 300 people at a central square in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Sunday, the Soviet news agency Tass said.
Lithuanian dissident sources said earlier that an unofficial rally was planned at the square to mark the 40th anniversary of the deportation of about 200,000 Lithuanians by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
On Saturday, Tass said thousands of people had taken to the streets of Vilnius in an official commemoration of the repressions carried out under Stalin.
Tass said references to Stalin made at Sunday’s rally were a pretext by “extremists elements.”
“Under the guise of condemning the cult of Stalin’s personality, they staged a gathering with anti-Soviet slogans . . . ,” Tass said. No arrests were reported.
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