New York Times 11.11.1978

4 Soviet Composers Urge Carter to Free Singer

MOSCOW, Nov. 10 (UPI) - Four Soviet composers appealed to President Carter today to obtain the release of Dean Reed, a singer and actor on trial in Buffalo, Minn., on charges of trespassing during a protest demonstration at a powerline construction site.

The Soviet press agency, Tass, said that Dmitri B. Kabalevsky, Kara A. Karayev, Tikhon N. Khrennikov and Rodion Shchedrin, the composers, had sent cablegram to the White House.

Tass quoted it as wing, "Soviet composers express their concern and indignation in connection with the imprisonment of Dean Reed, the well-known musician, who has devoted all his activity to the noble cause of struggling for mutual understanding between peoples and for justice."

Mr. Reed, who was born in Denver but now lives in East Germany and is popular in Eastern Europe, was released on his own recognizance Wednesday. He and other defendants went on trial yesterday.