News In Brief

50 members of peace group arrested in Soviet Union

Soviet authorities here arrested some 50 members of a peace group that has called for a US-Soviet summit meeting and told at least two of the pacifists they would be sent to a psychiatric hospital, group member Vladimir Brodsky says.

The unsanctioned organization, known as the Group to Establish Trust Between the USA and the USSR, has been a frequent target of police and KGB harassment since it was founded two years ago. It is equally critical of both countries and is one of the few groups that continues to express open dissent in the Soviet Union. Others have been disbanded, with many of their members exiled or sent to prison.