WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- Former Russian dissident Edward Lozansky has filed suit in Washington to have the trade restricting Jackson-Vanik amendment repealed, court papers say.
Lozansky filed suit in a federal court to overturn the law that denies favored nation status to any country that does not have a free market system and restricts emigration, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.
It was written in 1974 and aimed to force Russia to loosen restrictions on Jews wishing to emigrate.
Also listed as a plaintiff in the suit is Anthony Salvia, a former Reagan administration official considered an expert on Russian-U.S. relations.
In 2010, Lozansky testified at a congressional hearing that he was separated from his wife and children for six years by Russian authorities. "I can confirm that Jackson-Vanik played a very important roll not only in the process of lifting restrictions on emigration but on the whole process of democratic and human rights developments in the countries of the former USSR," he said.
"But I strongly believe that now Jackson-Vanik is not only obsolete but even harms U.S. interests," he added.
