ARREST WARRANT FOR FORMER LEADING DEMOCRAT.

An arrest warrant was issued in Moscow yesterday for the former deputy mayor of Moscow, Sergei Stankevich. He is accused of accepting bribes in connection with a music festival staged in MoscowÕs Red Square in 1992, but an arrest warrant could not be issued earlier since Stankevich enjoyed immunity as a member of the former parliament. Stankevich is said to have been in hiding for two months, and may be in the USA; he could face 8-15 years in prison if found guilty. (3) In the heady days of perestroika, Stankevich was a leader of the Soviet democratic movement. Elected to parliament in the Soviet UnionÕs first partially free elections in 1989, he was a founder-member of the Interregional DeputiesÕ Group which included Andrei Sakharov and Boris Yeltsin.

Former Prosecutor General Under Arrest.